Robert H. Harrison

Chief of Police

Message from Chief Robert H. Harrison

The year end report for 2003 contains a snapshot of the police department and a review of the agency’s operations last year. The most significant part of this report deals with uniform crime report data. Police departments refer to it as URC data that is reported to both the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  Within the agency we use it as a report card on how effective the agency is in dealing with crime trends. We are also compared to similar sized cities within Arkansas by ACIC and nationally by the FBI. I am pleased to inform you that our officers did an outstanding job in reducing the overall crime rate for last year by 4% with good clearance rates.

The local economy, staffing levels, quality of personnel, our budget, and the size of individual patrol areas within the city limits are just a few of the factors that influence the local crime rate. We continue to patrol 42 square miles with no increase in patrol officers since 1999.

We continued to deal with a tight budget that required the city to freeze hiring of three police officer positions and personnel shortages due to officers being called up for military service in Iraq last year. This impacted the patrol division’s ability to respond to calls for service. I recognize that each department within city government has a responsibility to provide the best service possible within the resources allocated to it in providing service to our citizens and community. Each of the four divisions of the police department have implementing strategies that reinforce the vital link between crime trends, patrol operations, investigations, and administrative review of police operations to make sure we are spending city tax dollars in the most effective manner possible.

The police department strives to be proactive rather than reactive to crime by looking at and evaluating crime trends each month. Our supervisors and officers continue to seek innovative ways to insure the public is protected and priority calls answered in a timely manner. Additionally, our web site (http://www.txkusa.org/arkpolice) provides timely information on current crime problems and a wide variety of other relevant information, which is updated weekly.

The police department faces many difficult challenges in the coming year.  We will be asked by the city to continue to do more with less.  The resolution of police parity pay, the transition to our new records management system, and capital improvements to our fleet vehicles and communications system are just a few of the many issues we will be dealing with.   Behind this report is a firm policy of ensuring the citizens of Texarkana Arkansas are a well-informed partner of the Texarkana Police Department and its efforts. Working together as a team with other city departments, we can make Texarkana a good place to live, work, and raise a family.

“Making Texarkana a safe place to live, work and raise a family”

THE YEAR AT A GLANCE

	2003	2002	Difference	% Change
Calls for Service	41,593	41,979	- 386	- 1%
UCR Crime Index	2027	2106	-79	-4%
Citations Issued	4183	4537	-354	-7%
Warnings Issued	3383	1831	+1552	+54%
Arrests Made	3873	3991	-118	-1%
Warrants Received	2098	1337	+761	+63%
Warrants Served	2078	1792	+286	+16%
Animal Service Calls	3259	3948	-689	-7%

PERSONNEL

The Police Department operated with less than a full compliment of personnel throughout 2003. At the end of the year, the officer shortage consisted of one vacant position and three positions that remained frozen. In addition, one docket clerk position remained vacant and frozen. The Police Department continues to seek funding from federal, state and local grants and grants have been a valuable for funding commissioned positions. Economic conditions resulted in a reduction in the amount of grant funds available. Our grants have been a valuable resource assisting in funding commissioned positions, and in 2003, we were able to add a civilian Domestic Violence Case Coordinator through the Violence Against Women grant. Three members of our Department were called up for active duty in the United States Marine Corps.

OFFICER OF THE YEAR

Officer James Atchley was selected by his peers as the Officer of the Year for 2003.   He was recognized by Police Chief Bob Harrison and Rotary Clubs of Texarkana Arkansas and Texas.  We are extremely proud of his accomplishments last year.

In May and June 2003, Officer Atchley arrested five felony suspects that were in engaged in burglaries and thefts throughout the Texarkana metro area. His attention to detail, knowledge of the city and criminal activity, and superior interview skills resulted in removing these criminals from our streets and the recovery of much stolen property.

In addition, information gained as a result of Officer Atchley’s actions, resulted in a number of additional unsolved crimes being cleared.

Officer Atchley has been a member of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department since July 2000, and serves in the Patrol Division. Officer Atchley is married and has one child.

Officer Atchley has completed 78 hours of college and is an example of the professional and dedicated officers who serve our city.

PERSONNEL ACTIONS:

Retirements:

Promotions:

Captain:

Lieutenant:

Sergeant:

Officer:

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The Texarkana Police Department is divided into four divisions which work together to provide quality law enforcement to the citizens of our community.

PATROL DIVISION

Captain Calvin Seward commanded the patrol division throughout 2003. The Patrol Division provides the uniform police services to our community and is the front line in protecting our citizens and combating crime. As such, Patrol is the largest division, with a staff of 3 lieutenants, 7 sergeants, and 47 patrol officers. The division is divided into three shifts, providing continuous police service.

Fighting crime is only one aspect of a Patrol Officer’s responsibilities. Patrol Officers are servants of our citizens and strive to ensure that Texarkana is a safe place to live, work and raise a family. Officers spend time developing an effective rapport with the citizens in their beats and are alert for issues that may lower the quality of life in a neighborhood. Officers work under the philosophy that the beats they work are their personal responsibility and take pride in keeping our neighborhoods safe.

The Patrol Division responded to almost 42,000 calls for service in 2003. This is a 21% increase over the 1999 pre-annexation total. Calls for service include everything from reports of violent crime to requests for information.

The Special Operations Unit is attached to the Patrol Division for daily operations, but is a resource for responding to specific needs or emergencies. Special Operations is staffed with a sergeant and eight officers. Each officer is assigned a primary assignment, such as K-9 or traffic enforcement that they perform on a routine basis. Special Operations officers are a resource for supplementing manpower needs in other divisions.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (CID)

The Property Crimes Section investigates burglaries, thefts, forgeries and other non-violent crimes involving property. Property crimes make up the majority of crimes within our city, and the detectives in this section are responsible for a clearance rate above the national average. A general detective is assigned to investigate misdemeanor offenses, assists victims in filing affidavits in District Court, and respond to citizen requests made to the Criminal Investigation Division.

The Crime Scene Section supports the other sections through the collection and processing of evidence. This section is a combined unit with the Texarkana Texas Police Department. Detectives in this section are highly trained and make use of advanced technology in the collection and preservation of evidence, fingerprint comparison, crime scene diagramming, and case preparation.

The multi-jurisdictional Metro Narcotics Task Force is made up of investigators from Texarkana Arkansas, Texarkana Texas, and the Bowie County District Attorney’s Office.  The task force focuses enforcement efforts on the manufacture and sale of illicit drugs and narcotics. Methamphetamine currently is the most available and troubling challenge confronting our narcotics enforcement efforts. In 2003, this unit made 191 drug related arrests and seized nearly $957,888 in illegal drugs.

Texarkana Arkansas funds the salaries for its investigators assigned to the task force using funds obtained from the Edward Byrne Memorial Law Enforcement Grant.

SERVICES DIVISION

Captain Glenn M. Greenwell commands the Services Division . Services Division serves as the administrative support component for the three operational divisions of the department. Services is staffed with 1 lieutenant, 1 sergeant, 3 officers, and 8 civilian support personnel.

Services Division is responsible for a wide variety of administrative, logistical, and support functions. The division contains a number of officers with advanced training and specialized technical skills that are required to provide support to the Chief of Police, Civil Service Commission, police department, and the community.

The Personnel & Training Section is responsible for the recruitment, selection and testing of applicants, and in-service training for all officers and civilian staff. The Public Information Section coordinates communication between the department and the media, as well as coordinating events in the community, public information/education programs, and crime prevention.

The Computer Services Section administers the department network and mobile data systems in the police cars, and is critical in bringing up the new records management system.

The Animal Services Section is staffed by 2 civilians, who are responsible for all calls relating to animals within the city.  They work closely with the Texarkana Animal Shelter.

Grant administration, budget coordination, docket preparation, internal affairs, radio communications, and fleet maintenance are among the many support services provided by this administrative division of the department.

CENTRAL RECORDS & COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION

Captain Ernest Keck is the commander . The Central Records and Communications Division (CRC) provides communication and records support to our agency, as well as most of the public safety agencies in Miller and Bowie County. The CRC Division has a staff of approximately 50 employees. CRC is a joint venture, funded by the Cities of Texarkana Arkansas and Texas, as well as Bowie County, Texas. The Law Enforcement Advisory Committee (LEAC) provides direction and establishes policy for the division and supervises the division commander.

The records section serves as the central repository for all law enforcement reports.  They processed approximately 24,000 reports in 2003.  The communications section is the 9-1-1 answering point for Texarkana & Bowie County, and CRC handled 125,000 9-1-1 calls in 2003.  While CRC also dispatches police and fire calls, EMS calls are immediately transferred to LifeNet Emergency Ambulance Service communications center.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND EVENTS

2003 was an outstanding year for our department. The following are some of the noteworthy events in 2003.

Champions of Law Enforcement Award – Our department was recognized as the outstanding law enforcement agency for the State of Arkansas, and received national media attention when a department highlight video, prepared with assistance from Pat Summerall Productions, was aired on CNN Headline News.

Our department continues to one of the best educated in the state. With four officers receiving the Educational Achievement Award this year for completing their bachelor’s degrees. Five members of the department hold Masters Degrees, with three additional officers enrolled in graduate school at Texas A & M - Texarkana. Fifteen percent of the officers have earned a bachelor’s degree, and 15 percent are working towards obtaining a degree.

Supporting our community is important to the members of our department. Officers donated their time and money to reach out to our community through the following department sponsored or supported events: Battle of the Badges charity football game, Shop with a Cop Christmas shopping spree for underprivileged children, and the Cops and Kids Christmas with the children at the Texarkana Baptist Orphanage and Watersprings Ranch for Children. Members of the department are also involved with Special Olympics, Race for the Cure, United Way, and many other community focused events.

Computerization and renovation of the Property and Evidence Section, including bar coding of all evidence for fast and accurate storage and retrieval.

Construction of a state of the art police firing range, comparable in utility and function, if not scale, to those available at the FBI & DEA academies.

The Texarkana Police Department conducted a technology exercise with DNR Electronics last year. One of our police cars was equipped with state of the art emergency lights, mobile data computers, video cameras, and mobile radios at no cost.  The car was featured at the IACP convention last year.

INDEX CRIME

One of the many functions of the Texarkana Police Department is tracking and reporting crime trends within the city.  These trends are reported to the FBI in the form of a Uniform Crime Report, usually referred to as the UCR.  The term “trend” is used because we are actually comparing incidents of crime that occurred during a particular year to those reported in previous years to see if the trend for each crime goes up or down.

During the year of 2003, we experienced a 4 % decrease in our total crime index.  The largest decrease can be found in larceny-theft.  From a historical perspective, we know that criminal indexes tend to be cyclical. Historically, periods of economic downturn have resulted in a rise in the crime rate. In addition, a number of external factors that are outside of local control, such as prison overcrowding or early release of criminals, can influence the crime statistics. We are pleased with the decrease in 2003 and remain cautiously optimistic that this downward trend will continue during the next year. 

2003 UNIFORM CRIME REPORT

Budget

Expenditures remained within overall prorated limits for all police budgets during FY2003.  Our vehicle maintenance costs were down from the high of 2001, and the purchase of several new patrol vehicles should allow expenditures in 2004 to remain within limits.   The total vehicle maintenance expenditures for FY2003 were $74,911

GRANT STATUS

The Police Department continues diligently seeking alternative funding sources to continue providing our citizens with the effective and professional law enforcement that they have come to expect.  With the increased emphasis on Homeland Security issues, fewer grant dollars are available for law enforcement efforts. However, federal, state, local and private funding resources have provided over $3 million dollars of grant money to support our enforcement efforts. Additional officers and civilian personnel, state of the art technology, additional equipment and training opportunities are available to serve our community as a result of these funds. Each addition helps to make our city a safe place to live, work and raise a family.

POLICE OPERATIONS

Examples of calls associated with each priority level:

Priority 1 – Urgent Requests for assistance from Fire, EMS, or Police

Priority 2 – Accident with Injuries, Bank Robbery, Burglary in progress, Homicide, Suicide, House Fire

Priority 3 – Accident without Injuries, Intrusion Alarms, DOA, Disturbance in progress, DWI, Prowler

Priority 4 – Funeral Escorts, Curfew Violation, Animal Running Loose, Loud Party, Prostitution

Priority 5 – Burglary already occurred, Disturbance already occurred, Forgery already occurred

Priority 6 – Parking complaint, Fireworks complaint, Gas Theft, Loose Animal

NARCOTICS

Methamphetamine continues to be a problem in our community. This is consistent with the national trend. One factor supporting the proliferation of “meth” is the ease of manufacture and availability of the required components. The number of labs seized continues to increase, from 2 in 2002 to 15 in 2003. Due to the short time necessary to manufacture methamphetamine, the labs are very difficult to locate before they move on.  Despite their simplicity, the “meth” labs are very dangerous and present many unique challenges to officers. Methamphetamine is only one of the illicit drugs in use in our community. Marijuana and cocaine continue to be an issue in our city, and ecstasy is becoming more common. Combating the drug problem continues to be an important priority of our department, with a focus on interdicting the incoming supply of drugs and the money that supports trafficking.

TRAINING

Training is a critical component of maintaining a professional and effective police department, and is a priority with our agency.  Texarkana police officers received a total of 5,732 hours of quality in-service training during 2003.  Courses covered a wide range of areas, from the basic police academy to highly technical subjects such as forensic analysis. Officers assigned to specialized positions, such as SWAT, received frequent operational training to maintain their skills and expertise at a high level of competency. In addition, Lt. Jim Horne graduated from the 10 week FBI National Academy during 2003.

ANIMAL SERVICES

Animal Services Officers are assigned as part of the Services Division and proactively enforce laws that relate to animals.  Two Animal Services Officers are responsible for all calls for service that involve domestic and wild animals.  Animal Services Officers answered 3,259 calls in 2003.  This is the second year in a row where we have experienced a 17% percent decrease over the previous year.

WEBSITE

The Texarkana Police Department has taken the lead in the City’s efforts to bring local government into the information age.  Informative and innovative, our website provides crime prevention efforts, monthly activity reports and recruiting information.  A perspective employee can now download an initial application from the website.  The web address is www.txkusa.org/arkpolice. Preparations are in progress to take advantage of the local government access television channel to increase community awareness and recruit qualified members of our community for service with the department.