Abbreviation LRPD Employees 661 (as of 2015) | Formed January 20, 1866 Operations jurisdiction* State of Arkansas, USA | |
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Size 116.8 square miles (303 km) | ||
The Little Rock Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. It is headed by Chief Kenton Buckner.
Contents
History
In 1831 the Town of Little Rock was incorporated and Dr. Matthew Cunningham won the first mayoral election. In 1835 Little Rock was incorporated as the first City in the Arkansas Territory. The Little Rock Police Department was established in 1866 and in 1892 the first paid Little Rock Fire Department was created.
Rank structure
The Little Rock Police Department has various positions for detectives, Field Training Officers, and other mission specific assignments, but these are not considered official ranks by the department.
Slain officers
∗Indicates killed by another police officer
Misconduct
In January 2011, Officer Jason Gilbert and two other officers from nearby agencies were indicted for a conspiracy to rob an armored car. The charges included a failed September 10th, 2007 attempt to rob an armored car. In March 2012, Gilbert was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
In February 2011, Officer Rick Harmon was arrested for drunk driving.
In September 2012, Officer Josh Hastings was charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of fifteen-year-old Bobby Moore. According to the charging documents, Moore was shot in the head as he was backing away from the officer trying to flee in a stolen car. Officer Hastings had been on the force for five years and had been suspended six times previously. In April, 2014, after two deadlocked juries, charges were dropped as prosecutors said no jury was willing to convict Hastings. He had been fired from his job, but his lawyer said he would take steps to return to the department.