Suspensions, Lawsuits Dot Tontitown Police Chief's Record

A work history that included suspensions and lawsuits didn’t stop Tontitown Mayor Jack Beckford from appointing Kristopher Arthur as police chief.

“I was aware of the suspensions and the lawsuits when I appointed Chief Arthur,” said Beckford. “They didn’t concern me.”

Arthur was named chief after the resignation of Denny Upton, who became Tontitown Police Department’s first police chief in March. Previously, Tontitown officials contracted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for police protection.

Arthur was hired by the Springdale Police Department on June 3, 2007. He was suspended for the first time in August 2010.

Arthur was working the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift in July 2010, according to an internal investigation. He was on special assignment, working to get drunken drivers off the road.

The investigation determined Arthur went to a party for about an hour during the time he was to have been working. He also went to eat at a restaurant with people from the party without checking out with dispatch for a break, according to the investigation report.

Arthur was suspended without pay for five days, suspended for six months from the home storage program which allows officers to drive patrol cars home and allowed no off-duty employment for 30 days, according to an administrative hearing report.

Arthur was suspended again in September 2011 after he threw his flashlight at the side window of a vehicle, according to a report. The vehicle had struck an officer directing traffic at Rodeo of the Ozarks, causing minor injury. When the vehicle passed Arthur, who was also directing traffic, he threw his flashlight, breaking the window. Officers aren't allowed to willfully damage property, according to department rules and regulations quoted in the investigation.

Arthur was suspended without pay for one day, according to a hearing report.

Arthur was suspended a final time in September 2012 after using a stun gun on a prisoner in the police station, according to a report. The prisoner was sitting on the floor in a hall handcuffed to a bench.

A video showed Arthur, who wasn't working as a jailer at the time, trying to force the prisoner to sit on the bench, according to the report. The prisoner rolled under the bench and Arthur removed the handcuffs while trying to pull him out.

Unsuccessful, Arthur pulled out the stun gun and shocked the prisoner twice. The prisoner then came out from under the bench and was cuffed to the bench again, the video showed.

Arthur exceeded the limits of the department’s use of force policy, and there was no need for him to make contact with the prisoner, according to a report.

Arthur was suspended without pay for 10 days, according to a hearing report.

Arthur resigned from the Springdale department and went to work at Tontitown when that department went into operation earlier this year. The resignation came as an investigation into another incident was beginning, said Chief Kathy O’Kelley. The incident wasn't related to the previous suspensions or lawsuits, she said. He wouldn't be eligible for rehire, she said.

Tontitown and Springdale are two different worlds, Arthur said.

“What happened in Springdale has no bearing on what I do now,” Arthur said.

Beckford said he believes Arthur learned a lesson from the suspensions.

“Suspensions are used to teach people how to do better,” Beckford said. “You learn and go on.”

Arthur was sued twice for his actions as a Springdale police officer. One was dismissed by a judge while the other is pending, according to court records.

In the case which was dismissed, a man said Arthur and another officer used excessive force. The man said Arthur hit him on the head with his flashlight during a struggle, then used a stun gun against a woman in the room. The man and the woman were arrested although the woman was later released without being charged, according to the lawsuit.

The case was dismissed when the man failed to file replies to motions by the city’s attorneys.

In the second lawsuit, a man claimed Arthur and another officer used excessive force during an arrest. The man said he was cuffed, shot with a stun gun several time and hit repeatedly.

O’Kelley said she couldn't comment on pending lawsuits.

She said there have been six lawsuits filed against the Springdale Police Department since she became chief in December 2005. Two were dismissed and four are still pending.

Such lawsuits are a part of life for police departments, Beckford said.

“Stuff happens. It’s the nature of the beast,” Beckford said.

Tontitown needs to move forward with its Police Department, Beckford said.

“The past is past,” Beckford said “Let the man do his job.”