Describing "chaos" in the Jacksonville Police Department, five officers sued on Wednesday to remove the mayor's designated Police-Department director, stating that City Attorney Bob Bamburg is holding the job illegally.
The lawsuit says state law bars Bamburg from holding the position because he's not a police chief and because elected officials are prohibited from simultaneously holding two city jobs.
The 12-page suit asks Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen to remove Bamburg from the police director position, rule that Mayor Gary Fletcher illegally exceeded his authority by appointing Bamburg and make the city pay for the costs of the litigation.
Bamburg, re-elected in 2014, has been Jacksonville city attorney for more than 26 years. He did not return a phone message requesting comment. Fletcher's home phone does not have voice mail.
[DOCUMENT: Read the full lawsuit]
State law allows only a police chief or a mayor to command a city police force, and there is no provision to allow that authority to be delegated elsewhere like Fletcher has done, the suit states.
Last week, the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police condemned the men's leadership of the city. The city began advertising for a new police chief last month.
The suit contends that Bamburg "exercises complete control" over the department and is using the position to retaliate against the rank-and-file officers who did not support the man Fletcher first hired to be police chief.
"Director Bamburg's actions jeopardize the operations of the department and therefore public safety in Jacksonville," the suit states.
The police force is Jacksonville's largest department with 56 officers, 11 employees and a $6.5 million budget.
Fletcher's first choice for the job, Geoffrey Herweg, was ruled to be ineligible for the position and removed at court order after about 2½ months on the job last year.
Earlier this month, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld that lower court decision, ruling that Herweg's 2002 conviction for lying to police in Texas, while he was serving as a police officer for another agency, bars him from holding the chief job under the standards set by the state constitution.
The lawsuit claims the department is in "chaos" under Bamburg's supervision, citing a dozen instances of questionable decision-making.
Among those complaints are instances of experienced investigators being replaced by less qualified officers, "critical" records being neglected, including K-9 certification records, and disruptions in the chain of command, with Bamburg circumventing captains to issue orders directly to lieutenants and sergeants "in a derogatory manner." Captains have also been excluded from budgeting, hiring and disciplinary decisions, the suit states.
Another complaint is how Bamburg has taken over the public information duties, replacing the officer who had held the job, which the lawsuit states led to news stories critical of city leadership.
Key positions have gone unfilled, including juvenile detective, crime scene technicians, sex-offender registration investigator and child forensic interview specialist, according to the lawsuit.
The mayor appointed Bamburg as interim Police-Department director on July 6, about a week after Herweg was removed. Fletcher created the position to supervise the force until the Herweg case was resolved.
According to the lawsuit, Fletcher cited Arkansas Code 14-43-504, the provision that describes the powers and duties of the mayor, as the authorization for him to make Bamburg the interim police director.
In a memo announcing the appointment, Fletcher wrote that he could oversee public safety operations in the city while performing his duties as mayor but he could not manage the Police Department as well.
The five officers who are suing -- Sgt. Cassie Blackerby, officer Cynthia Harbour, Sgt. Robert Slash, Capt. Kelley Smiley and Lt. Robert Washington -- also dispute that Fletcher has the authority to create the director position when the city's own operating rules require a police chief to oversee the force. Bamburg's title may be police director, but he's acting as the chief of police, according to the lawsuit.
"Bamburg exercises complete control of the Jacksonville Police Department," the lawsuit states. "Mayor Fletcher has created a municipal office without authority to do so, and delegated powers that he is not authorized by law to delegate."
Nate Steel, the attorney representing the officers, also represented Tara Smith, the Jacksonville city council member, who sued last year to challenge Herweg's qualifications for the chief job.
Metro on 04/05/2018