WM Police Commissioners, WMPD reps having trouble getting on same page

WM Police Commissioners, WMPD reps having trouble getting on same page

Coordination, communication on meeting

times a hindrance

news@theeveningtimes.com

Most of the West Memphis city councilors that sit on the Police Commission met briefly on Thursday, April 14. At the last commission meeting, the board to move the time to 5 p.m. Assistant Chief Eddie West attended that meeting, and said that was not a good time for the Police Department. Sure enough, Chairman Willis Mondy, Councilwoman Lorraine Robinson, Councilman James Pulliaum and James Holt convened without a police department representative.

Communication between the commission chairman and the department has broken down recently, but not just over meeting start times. The commission has been meeting at irregular intervals since Police Commission chairman Councilman Willis Mondy began rehabilitating his leg, injured in an August brawl. For his part in the fight, the councilman was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and fined $200. This most recent meeting was only announced a week prior at the first City Council meeting in April and apparently never conveyed to WMPD officials.

Mondy lamented not prompting the police for a representative during the brief meeting and said regular meetings going forward were needed.

“This meeting is infor- mal because our assistant chief is not here,” said Mondy. “I am going to talk to him about getting somebody to be here because at one time he said he wasn’t going to be able to be here for 5 o’clock meetings.”

The councilors in attendance reaffirmed that the 5 p.m. meeting time was best for them.

“We still need reports,” said Mondy. “I don’t know how many are working this year. How many they hired or are gone. We need to bring that up to find out how things are going with them. We need to know the crime rate and how things are going in the different sections of town. We need someone to come out here and talk to us so we know what is going on.”

Councilor Lorraine Robinson expressed sympathy for Mondy’s situation.

“We have not been real consistent with it because you’ve had so much to go through,” said Robinson.

Being transparent, Mondy pointed the finger at himself for no invitation being extended to the police department.

“I called this (meeting) at City Council and I didn’t think to go and talk to somebody about it because I was busy with physical therapy,” he admitted. “I need to get with them and find out who we can get to come over and meet with us. Overall, I think things are going good because none of us have had any complaints.”

City councilors emphasized to Mondy that the police representative should continue to be from the department leadership and aired items on their own agendas to be heard at the next meeting: Sky Copstyle surveillance cameras for neighborhood parks during the summer, code enforcement on the weekends for grass clippings, some stop signs and traffic patrol for an neighborhood street noted for speeding.

“That’s why we need a representative here so we can let them know that,” said Mondy.

By John Rech