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'This is a good thing': Little Rock police chief announces task force following internal audit

Chief Humphrey described the recent audit into the police department as a "good thing" for the force.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — At a press conference Tuesday, the Little Rock Police Department announced a new task force to review the recommendations for improvement after an independent audit of the department.

Chief Humphrey described the recent audit into the police as a "good thing" for the force.

Results from the audit, requested by Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. were made public last week. He directed the Chief to create a task force to handle the 80 recommendations for improvement made by the independent company CNA.

"They talked about professional standards, cultural competency, harassment, take home vehicles-- we talked about the handling of private and confidential information, and also our promotional processes," Humphrey said.

The task force is made up of nine officers with a range of backgrounds. There are members of both the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the Black Police Officers Association (BPOA), field officers, and those with experience in training, accreditations, and public information.

The task force includes Major Heath Helton, Lieutenant J.C. White, Sergeant Jarrod Purifoy, Lieutenant Michael Ford, Sergeant Tabitha Gurley, Officer Lisa Nava, Officer Katina Hatley, Officer Timothy Pope, and Detective Erik Temple.

"I want you all to remember that our department hadn't had an audit in years. And so this is really a good, good thing for our department," Humphrey said.

A member of the task force and BPOA member, Lieutenant John C. White is optimistic about the efforts sharing, "I think this is a good start. I think the citizens of Little Rock will be satisfied at the end of the process."

The group expects about six months of work to address these dozens of recommendations.

Separately, the Chief insists that his department will continue to focus on keeping the community safe.

"[Officers are] working extremely hard to address the issues that are community-related to violent crime," he said.

This effort includes a recent drug bust and what Chief Humphrey says is a continued effort to seize illegal guns.

"So far to date we have removed 645 illegal guns from the streets of Little Rock. We have arrested 437 individuals that are related to those weapons."

At press time, the newly formed task force had not yet set a date for their first meeting, but officers say they expect to begin the process soon.

   

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