I asked Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner why he didn’t get a ticket after rear-ending a car on Markham Street recently. He didn’t respond.
I made an FOI request to LRPD for other accident reports involving the chief. I got no response.
Today, blogger Russ Racop shared responses he’d gotten from LRPD on similar inquiries.
* CHIEF’S OTHER ACCIDENT: It was about 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, 2016 at Broadway and 23rd. He was driving a city Chevy Tahoe. The other driver was Christopher Green of Alexander, driving a Chevy Traverse.
The report said Buckner was backing out of a parking place at David’s Kitchen and hit the right bumper of Green’s car, which was driving westbound through the parking lot. No one was hurt. Drivers exchanged insurance information.
* POLICE POLICY ON TICKETS: More interesting was this response Racop shared from his question about ticket issuance.
In response to your question about why a ticket was not issued. When an officer is involved in a vehicle accident an Administrative Investigation is initiated. During this investigation, the accident is reviewed by an Accident Review Committee and they give their recommendations of avoidability, i.e. fault. The officer’s supervisor uses the Accident Review Committee’s recommendations to determine the Administrative Discipline the officer involved should receive. Our department uses Progressive Discipline so if an officer violates the same General Order or Rule and Regulation multiple times, the severity of the discipline increases. Chief Buckner has confirmed during his tenure at Louisville PD officers were not issued citations for traffic accidents. I can tell you that this was also practiced in Little Rock before Chief Buckner arrived and is a norm practiced nationally by other police agencies. If you have any further questions I will be happy to attempt to answer them.
Sgt. Jonathan Prater
Administrative Division – FOIA Unit
UPDATE: A police spokesman called on his day off to explain an oversight on handling my FOI request and volunteered to provide anything needed. He confirmed the authenticity of what Racop provided and I said I didn’t need additional copies.