The Little Rock Black Police Officers Association on Wednesday criticized Chief Kenton Buckner over his absence at certain anti-violence events in the city, deepening recent tension between the organization and the chief.
The group, in a news release, rebuked Buckner for not attending five events over the past four months that the anti-violence campaign Victory Over Violence organized. The events were a panel discussion, two marches, and two meetings with elected city and state officials.
The association connected Buckner's absences to his frequent travel.
"He would rather travel on air planes than walk on our community blocks," the group said in the news release.
Buckner said his travel this year has been necessary to improve the Police Department, which is the largest in Arkansas.
He said his trips have included a three-week training course for senior government officials at Harvard University; five days in Atlanta at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives annual conference; a police chief mentorship program in Mobile, Ala.; and multiple trips to Rhode Island as a board member on the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
"Little Rock police is an agency that strives to be reflective of best practices and you cannot achieve that by sitting in rooms and listening to yourselves talk," Buckner said.
The criticism of Buckner comes a month after the black officers association accused him of racial bias. The group sent a letter to the Little Rock Board of Directors on July 5 that called for an investigation into "discrimination, inequities, and disparaging treatment of minority officers and supervisors" under Buckner.
Buckner has denied treating black officers unfairly.
On Wednesday, he pushed back against the association's comments on his community involvement. Buckner noted that he has held a series of public forums, known as Chat with the Chief, across the city each summer since his June 2014 swearing-in. The forums, typically held at schools and community centers, include question-and-answer sessions, information on police activity and slide shows on crime trends.
Assistant Chiefs Alice Fulk, Hayward Finks and Wayne Bewley have led the forums when Buckner has been unable to attend.
"I am a very active and accessible chief with requests for my time in high demand, and I stay very engaged in our community and our professional organizations," Buckner said. "I can't be everywhere, all the time."
Black Police Officers Association spokesman Lt. Johnny Gilbert said Wednesday that the group, which has 105 members, had a representative attend each of the five anti-violence events that it criticized Buckner for missing.
Gilbert said the association does not expect Buckner to attend every community event. But he said Buckner favors "safe" events, such as the Chat with the Chief series, over events that require him to "show some empathy and some compassion."
Gilbert said the chief should attend more of those events, particularly as the city struggles with an increase in violent crime.
"People are hurting," he said. "People are pouring their hearts out, talking about their lives. What they're asking us when we go to those events is, 'Where's the chief?' I'm going to be honest with you, it's kind of embarrassing."
Information for this article was contributed by Ryan Tarinelli of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 08/10/2017