Mayor and Chief of Police violate Arkansas Freedom of Information Act - Judge orders records to be tuned over in 24 hours; they now face contempt citation for failing to provide all records

The Mayor and Police Chief are headed for another Contempt of Court hearing

The first hearing in a series of four lawsuits (click here to view the complaint) we filed against the Mayor and Police Chief was held this past Tuesday.

Before any testimony was given and any evidence was introduced, Judge Herbert Wright ordered the city to provide us with the public records they denied us last summer by 5 p.m. the following day.

 

Judge Herbert Wright

They provided some records, but not all and now face contempt charges. Click here to view our motion for contempt.

In June 2019.  we requested the non-exempt portion of personnel files for all LRPD uniformed and plain clothed, non-undercover officers. The city of Little Rock only provided 79 files. At the time they had 529 non-undercover officers.

In an article that appeared in the local on-line newspaper, the city attorney Tom Carpenter was quoted as saying he "did not know why records were not provided" to us back in June 2019. That is an out and out lie. We can prove it.

Take a listen and hear City Attorney Carpenter clearly tell our publisher why and who is the culprit for the violation of the law.

Yep, you heard him, it was none other that Human Resource Director Stacey Witherell.

Stacey Witherell - City of Little Rock HR Director

Arkansas law provides removal for AFOIA scofflaw like Mayor Scott when a finding of "nonfeasance in office" has been adjudicated for a willful and knowing violation of the AFOIA.

The Arkansas Attorney General has explained this in one of her Opinions.

 Stay tuned for updates.

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Links to the other three AFOIA denial of rights lawsuits:
 
AFOIA Complaint #2

AFOIA Complaint #3

AFOIA Complaint #4

Another fired LRPD cop gets his job back - City leadship trys to hide another failure

 LRPD cop Drew Talbert get his job back but is still a liar and lacks credibility

Little Rock city leadership does not want you to know they lost another court battle dealing with the termination of a corrupt LRPD officer.

Thanks to highly placed sources in LRPD administration, the news was leaked to us last week and we can provide the transparency the city far too often lacks.

On July 2018 mercenary LRPD cop Drew Allen Word Talbert was found to have lied in a report and to superior officers about a DWI traffic stop he made.

He was investigated and subsequently fired for violating departmental policy that required LRPD personnel to be honest and tell the truth.

Talbert appealed his termination to the LR Civil Service Commission.  

A transcript of the proceedings details the episode where Talbert was caught being untruthful, or lying.
  

The LR Civil Service Commission voted to uphold the termination.

They had to, Talberts untruthfulness was supported by a preponderance of overwhelming evidence - his lying was captured on video.  

Talbert and his LRFOP paid for shyster, Robert Newcomb, further appealed the termination to the Pulaski C0unty Circuit Court. 

Deputy City Attorney Rick Hogan, not the brightest tool in the shed, used the same argument and evidence presented at the LR Civil Service Commission.

Shyster Newcomb argued that the city failed to prove that Talbert was being deceptive when he lied.

Shyster Robert Newcomb- Defender of corrupt cops

The case was heard by batshit crazy Judge Mary McGowan. 

Judge Crazy Mary of the 9th Division Pulaski County Circuit Court

 
She agreed with the shyster and gave the lying cop his job back.

We published a story about Crazy Mary on our Bad Government in Arkansas Blog back in 2016 and you can read it by clicking here.


Crazy Mary has a history of disciplinary actions was last censured in 2018 by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.

You can view the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission's letter of censure bu clicking here.

The lies that Talbert was fired over had nothing to do with his alleged ignorance of DWI laws, it was statements he made to his superior officer and wrote in reports that were not supported by video footage from the MVR (mobile video recorder) in his patrol vehicle.

Thankfully Crazy Mary is not seeking reelection.

It does not appear that the city is going to appeal this decision.

Shit move on their part.

And Fibber Talbert has already been back at it and has several cases pending in local courts.

If he wrote you a ticket, make sure your attorney knows about his lack of credibility.

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Like 80% of all white LRPD sworn officers, Talbert is a mercenary cop as he and most all white officers do not live in Little Rock.

Talbert lives in Cabot as evidenced by his voter registration.

The city of Little Rock needs a residency requirement for police officers and efforts to get a law passed about that very requirement is taking place.

Where do LRPD take-home vehicles go? Episode 59: Officer David Winston O'Neal, Sr.

LRPD Officer O'Neal drives a unmarked vehicle to his home in Saline County

LRPD Officer David Winston O'Neal, Sr.

Like most all LRPD officers, O'Neal refuses to live in the city that employs him. 

So we give O'Neal an umarked LRPD vehicle to drive to and from his home in Saline County to work in Little Rock as a mercenary police officer and we pay for the fuel.

In 2019 we spent $845.31 on fuel for O'Neal's take-home vehicle.

 

In 2018 we spent $1,246.16 on fuel for O'Neal's take-home vehicle.

LRPD and the city of Little Rock refused to provide us information in 2019 regarding the city where the take-home cars go. So much for being transparent and open.

They provided the take-home location in 2018 and you can read our post about that by clicking here.

 
Since they refuse to provide the information (the take home city is what we requested), we will post where these vehicles are actually going (their address which was not requested and is exempt under the AFOIA) and how much we pay for the fuel to provide transportation for these officers to drive to and from their homes each day.

More than half of all LRPD officers refuse to live in the city of Little Rock and be a true part of our community. Those are mercenary officers.

Most all of the LRPD take-home vehicles go to homes outside of Little Rock.

Many LRPD officers that have take-home vehicles use them to drive to and from off-duty jobs where they moonlight at security for merchants and direct traffic at churches on Sundays.

We believe this violates certain state laws and will be filing complaints with the Arkansas Ethics Commission concerning this illegal activity.

All the information used in this post is public information, readily available from the Internet or from a Freedom of Information Request.   We used the interwebs in this instance.

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Court Records indicate O'Neal has some financial management issues as evidenced by a foreign judgment and failure to vacate criminal charge after non-payment of rent. He also displays a lack of respect for vehicle registration and traffic laws. 

Where do LRPD take-home vehicles go? Episode 58: Lt. Andre Dyer

Lt. Andre Dyer drives a marked vehicle to his home in Mabelvale

LRPD Lt. Andre Dyer

In 2017 we spent $1,305.98 on fuel for Dyer's take-home vehicle.

In 2018 we spent $4,297.22 on fuel for Dyer's take-home vehicle. 

In 2019 we spent $3,287.91 on fuel for Dyer's take-home vehicle.

LRPD and the city of Little Rock refused to provide us information regarding the city where the take-home cars go. So much for being transparent and open.

They provided it previously and you can read our post about that by clicking here.

 
Since they refuse to provide the information (the take home city is what we requested), we will post where these vehicles are actually going (their address which was not requested and is exempt under the AFOIA) and how much we pay for the fuel to provide transportation for these officers to drive to and from their homes each day.

More than half of all LRPD officers refuse to live in the city of Little Rock and be a true part of our community. Those are mercenary officers.

 

 

 

 Most all of the LRPD take-home vehicles go to homes outside of Little Rock.

 

 

Many LRPD officers that have take-home vehicles use them to drive to and from off-duty jobs where they moonlight at security for merchants and direct traffic at churches on Sundays.

We believe this violates certain state laws and will be filing complaints with the Arkansas Ethics Commission concerning this illegal activity.

All the information used in this post is public information, readily available from the Internet or from a Freedom of Information Request.   We used the interwebs in this instance.

 

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Dyer poses for a City Hall Selfie in 2018

 

Dyer was bitten by a fellow K9 officer back in 2015. 

The dog bite caused him to fire his weapon.

Dyer sued the city over disclosure of exempt information by CLR Human Resources  employee Stacey Witherell.

Stacey Witherell

 

Dyer has a disciplinary record of not following the orders of a supervisor; insubordination; performance of duties as required by orders or policies; conduct unbecoming and dereliction of duty.