FORT SMITH -- Kevin Lindsey apologized to the community Monday and announced his immediate resignation as police chief for making an inappropriate racial remark last week.
Lindsey, who worked for nine years as Fort Smith's police chief, made the announcement before a crowd of about 80 residents, police officers, city officials and members of news organizations in the conference room at police headquarters. After making the brief announcement, he walked out a door at the back of the room without another word.
"I made apologies to the parties involved," Lindsey said. "I extend those apologies to each of you and the citizens of Fort Smith and my co-workers. I am profoundly sorry for what happened and what was said."
Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman said in a news release later Monday that he had named police Maj. Dean Pitts as interim chief until a permanent replacement for Lindsey is hired.
Lindsey made no mention of the remark that led to his resignation. Dingman said Lindsey made the remark, which he did not repeat, after a meeting on the afternoon of March 2.
The meeting was in the city's Information and Technology Department. Lindsey made the remark to department Director Russell Gibson and Pitts, the only other people in the room. However, Dingman said, a female employee outside the room heard the remark and reported it to her supervisor, who reported it to Dingman the next day.
Dingman said he met with Lindsey on March 4 about the remark and that Lindsey admitted making the comment.
Dingman said the remark warranted consideration as a firing offense but there was no determination during the March 4 meeting about whether Lindsey would be fired.
"It certainly was of a serious enough nature that that was a possibility." Dingman said Monday.
No other action occurred over the remark until Lindsey went to Dingman on Thursday morning and tendered his one-sentence letter of resignation, effective April 11.
Contacted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Thursday for comment on Lindsey's resignation, Dingman said Lindsey was resigning to spend more time with his family. He did not mention that Lindsey resigned because of the racial remark.
He said Monday that as of Thursday, he was making his own determination of the facts and was not going to share them with anyone until he made his determination and report to the city directors.
City Director George Catsavis said Monday that he didn't learn what happened until Lindsey submitted his resignation Thursday.
"I feel we should have been informed way before that," Catsavis said. "There are some issues I'm going to address about that."
During the announcement Monday, Lindsey did not offer an explanation for the remark or what prompted it.
However, he said, "Over the last several months I have been under great personal stress, and that stress came out in an unprofessional and inappropriate comment a few days ago."
Lindsey took no questions but permitted statements by two people in the audience before his announcement.
Former Mayor Bill Vines said he thought the remark and resignation were "much ado about nothing." He said he believed Lindsey was a good police chief, that his apology was sufficient and that his resignation was not necessary.
"This is an overreaction to a relatively small deal," Vines said.
The other statement came from Blanche Smith.
"My Bible says what you have inside you will come out," she said. "And you had that already inside you. [Vines] said it's not a big deal. But God is our judge."
Both statements drew applause from the audience.
The reaction to Lindsey's remark and resignation was mixed among those who were there to hear his announcement.
"I think everybody's heart is broken," City Director Don Hutchings said. "The chief said something he shouldn't have said. He did the right thing, although I'm going to miss him terribly."
Rhonda Royal, a member of the Sebastian County Quorum Court, said she and others have unanswered questions about Lindsey. She said Lindsey has been working with her and the black community through the NAACP for the past six months to get more blacks hired at the Police Department.
"And so, I'm somewhat concerned about that statement, that he's been working with us this long," she said.
The news release from the Police Department on Monday said Pitts currently is the commander of the Administrative Support Services Division.
He joined the Police Department in 1991 and has served as a patrol officer, detective sergeant, patrol sergeant and patrol watch commander. He was promoted to major in August 2007 as Patrol Division commander. In November 2009, he was transferred to the Administrative Support Services Division.
Dingman said he spoke with the department's three majors, who serve as chief in his absence, in determining who to name as interim chief. He said all three qualified for the position.
He said the other two majors, Criminal Investigation Division Maj. Mark Hallum and Patrol Division Maj. Larry Ranells, expressed interest in applying for the job. Dingman said he believed it would be better for Pitts, who is close to retirement and was not going to apply for the chief's job, to take the interim position.
Dingman said it is the job of the city administrator, according to city ordinances, to hire the new police chief. City directors voted last week to hire Carl Geffken, currently chief operating officer of Berks County, Pa., as the new administrator.
Geffken is scheduled to begin his new duties in mid-April.
State Desk on 03/15/2016