In Service For
Arkansas Law Enforcement
January 2014
New Year Brings New Opportuni es Inside this issue:
Dear 10-8 Readers,
Happy New Year!
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Human Trafficking Task Force Established
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Expansion of CJI Online Programs Opinions Corner ALETA Leads Basic Training For Probation and Parole Officers
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Impact of Law Enforcement on Prescription Drug Abuse Cell Phone Search Considered
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DWI Stops: Citizen Tips Considered
Dates to remember: January 27-29 Arkansas Sheriffs Association Winter Convention North Little Rock Wyndham Contact: Taylor Jackson, (501) 376-3741
We have several exciting law enforcement opportunities planned for 2014. In this issue, you can learn about the State Task Force for the Prevention of Human Trafficking, which my office created in November. The task force is composed of law enforcement officials, state agency representatives, community leaders and victims’ rights advocates from across Arkansas. This is just one of several initiatives my office is spearheading that wouldn’t be possible without our partners in law enforcement. Whether it’s cyber crimes or prescription drug abuse, I know I can count on you to help make Arkansas stronger and safer. So in this issue, you’ll also get the latest news from CJI Director Dr. Cheryl May, ALETA Director Ken Jones and Arkansas Drug Director Fran Flener. One of our goals this year is to connect with you electronically. You can get the latest news related to consumer protection, law enforcement and the Attorney General’s office when you like the Arkansas Attorney General on Facebook and follow @AttyGenMcDaniel on Twitter. I hope you’ll “like” and follow the Arkansas Attorney General today if you haven’t already. Also, you can now sign up to receive the 10-8 newsletter by email on our website on the updated law enforcement summit event page in the “links” section: http://arkansasag.gov/ouroffice/sponsored-events/law-enforcement-summit. I know 2014 will be our best year yet! We’re already planning some fantastic opportunities for you, so stay tuned! Sincerely,
May 13-14 ACIC Little Rock Marriott
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel
Human Trafficking Task Force Established By Cindy Murphy Communications Director Arkansas Attorney General’s Office The Attorney General’s Office was proud to announce in November the formation of a statewide task force to focus on preventing human trafficking and raising awareness about the issue. General McDaniel appointed Assistant Attorney General Will Jones and Reagan Stanford of Catholic Charities of Arkansas as co-chairs of the task force. You can find a complete list of task force members at ArkansasAG.gov. Our partners in law enforcement will be crucial to the success of the Attorney General’s State Task Force for the Prevention of Human Trafficking. The task force is composed of law enforcement officials, state agency representatives, community leaders and victims’ rights advocates from across Arkansas. The Task Force’s goal is to improve the collective response to human trafficking and ultimately end the crime. The Human Trafficking Act of 2013 calls for the Attorney General to establish the task force to address every aspect of human trafficking in the state, including the forced labor trafficking and sex trafficking of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. The Act was a component of the Attorney General’s legislative package last year, and it enjoyed broad bipartisan support. The efforts in the Legislature last year to strengthen Arkansas’s anti-human trafficking laws gained national recognition. The Polaris Project identified Arkansas as its most-improved state in addressing the crime. The task force is working to develop a state plan to prevent trafficking, improve information sharing among governmental and nongovernmental organizations that deal with the issue, raise public awareness of human trafficking and create a training curriculum for law enforcement officials. One of the first things the task force must accomplish is get-
ting a better understanding of how human trafficking is affecting Arkansas. The Arkansas State Fusion Center is currently conducting a comprehensive assessment of the extent and impact of human trafficking in the State of Arkansas. This will be the first research conducted to determine how widespread the problem of human trafficking is in Arkansas. Existing knowledge of the issue is primarily anecdotal and based on individual cases or media accounts. It is also unclear if such crimes are being reported to police agencies. The ultimate goal of this study is to better understand human trafficking issues and to equip the Arkansas law enforcement community with the knowledge and means to more effectively detect such crimes and assist victims. To gather this information, the Fusion Center sent every law enforcement agency an electronic survey on January 8. We estimate the survey will take an hour or less to complete. This survey is a crucial first step in establishing a clear picture of human trafficking activity in Arkansas so that we can establish a collaborative, organized approach to combat this criminal activity. Your agency’s participation in the survey is critical. The task force is also conducting a series of focus groups to get input from law enforcement officials and service provides. Groups have already met in Little Rock and Arkadelphia. The following focus group meetings will be held at University of Arkansas MidSouth locations:
Jonesboro—January 23 2408 Phillips Drive Monticello—January 30 906 North University Blvd., Suite B Fayetteville—February 6 241 W. Spring Street, Suite 2 At each of the scheduled events, service providers will meet from 10 a.m. to noon and law enforcement officials will meet from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. A facilitator will lead each group discussion. Participants aren’t required to have any direct experience or knowledge of human trafficking.
Behind the Badge We would like to hear about what it’s really like to be a boots-on-the-ground Arkansas law enforcement officer. Send us your stories of bravery and humor in the field so that we can share them with our 10-8 readers. All Behind the Badge submissions should be emailed to cindy.murphy@arkansasAG.gov. 2
CJI Con nues To Expand Its Online Program
By Dr. Cheryl May CJI Director The Criminal Justice Institute (CJI) is continuing to expand its catalog of online programs in 2014. Currently, CJI is offering eight online programs for Arkansas law enforcement officers: Animal Fighting/Animal Cruelty Investigations Online; Foundations of Supervision Online; Racial Profiling Online; The Arkansas Methamphetamine Challenge for Law Enforcement Executives Online; Methamphetamine Awareness, Identification, and Safety for First Responders Online; Methamphetamine Investigations Online; School Safety Refresher Online; and Crime Scene First Responder for the Uniformed Officer Online. These online programs are effectively eliminating many of the barriers Arkansas officers face when seeking opportunities for continued education and training—scheduling conflicts, time constraints, and travel expenses. With access to these self-paced online courses, education and training is available for any certified Arkansas law enforcement officer with an internetconnected computer – 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. CJI recently began offering each of these programs at least once a month to ensure increased accessibility for any officer in need of training. In 2014, CJI is excited to be launching five additional online programs: Principles of Supervision ONLINE; Law Enforcement Ethics ONLINE; Law Enforcement Response to Persons with Behavioral Health Issues ONLINE; Preparing for a School Site Assessment ONLINE; and Crisis Planning Guidelines for Schools ONLINE. As with all CJI courses, Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST) approval is obtained for all online courses. I’m proud to say that CJI’s online courses reflect the same caliber of professionalism and first-hand knowledge that officers have come to expect from CJI programs.
Opinions Corner By Cindy Murphy Attorney General’s Office Opinion No. 2013-013 The Attorney General released an opinion on May 1, 2013, to answer a question about whether a municipality may prohibit the carry of concealed firearms on all city property, including rights-of -way, sidewalks, streets, or highways by posting signs. In the opinion, he said that the statute gives cities the authority to ban carrying handguns on municipal property such as in buildings, on grounds and in parks. The opinion, however, questioned whether the Arkansas General Assembly, in passing A.C.A. 5-73-306(19) (A) in 1995, intended this authority to extend to public rights-ofway and sidewalks. For more information on this opinion and others, go to www.ArkansasAG.gov.
ALETA Conducts Proba on and Parole Officer Basic Training By Ken Jones ALETA Director
The Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy and the Arkansas Community Correction Instructors partnered recently to present the first ALETA basic training course designed specifically for probation and parole officers. Arkansas parole and probation officers, authorized as special law enforcement officers under CLEST regulations, are an important part of Arkansas’s law enforcement community. The course, held at ALETA’s Camden campus, started on Oct. 27, with graduation on Dec. 6. The 22 officers enrolled in the course showed great determination, enthusiasm and interest in all aspects of the course. The course consisted of 265 hours of training that covered topics such as firearms qualifications, defensive tactics, arrest procedures, vehicle operations and legal education. The course emphasized public safety and decision making. ACC policies and procedures were also a crucial part of the training. The course was an overall success with many students achieving high scores in firearms, academics and physical training. It was an honor for ALETA to conduct this first course and to work with Arkansas Community Correction in providing quality training for the probation and parole officers of Arkansas. I strongly believe that providing this course moves ALETA forward in its overall mission of providing high-quality, sound training for all law enforcement officers in Arkansas. We are eager to offer our next probation and parole officer basic training course later this month.
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Prevention Needs Assessment, a survey which measures drug abuse among Arkansas youth, 16 percent of responding high school seniors have abused pharmaceutical drugs at least once in their lifetime and 7 percent had engaged in inappropriate use in the past 30 days. To address these issues, my office formed a coalition in March 2010 that includes the Attorney General’s Office, By Fran Flener the UA Criminal Justice Institute, the ArState Drug kansas National Guard, the State Board Director of Pharmacy, the Arkansas Association of In Arkansas Chiefs of Police, the Arkansas Sheriffs and across the Association, hundreds of law enforcenation, the di- ment agencies, the Department of Health, version and the Department of Human Services, and a abuse of premultitude of other governmental and priscription drugs vate agencies. Through this partnership, pose a major we’re working to encourage all Arkanchallenge to sans to prevent prescription abuse and law enforce“monitor, secure, and dispose” their medment profesications. sionals, health Because the majority of people who care providers, substance abuse treatment abuse prescription drugs obtain them providers, prevention officials, schools, from friends or relatives, ONDCP’s Nacommunities, and parents. The U.S. tional Drug Control Strategy identified D.E.A.’s 2013 National Drug Threat As- increasing prescription drug return and sessment reports that prescription drug disposal programs as a means to curb abuse is the nation’s fastest growing drug abuse. The Arkansas law enforcement threat and that these drugs are now the community has played a critical role in second most commonly abused, behind the tremendous success of state disposal only marijuana. programs, and due to its dedication to According to the most recent Arkansas prevention, our state has been acknowl-
Arkansas Law Enforcement Making Significant Impact in Preven on of Prescrip on Abuse
Court to Consider Cell Phone Search By David Raupp Senior Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division Like other warranted searches, a search of a suspect’s cell phone without a warrant has been successfully defended when challenged in court. For example, the Arkansas Court of Appeals recently upheld such a search in the case of Jason Carl Hayes v. State, 2013 Ark. App. 725. Hayes pleaded guilty to possessing and viewing child pornography, but reserved his right in the plea agreement to challenge the search warrant issued for his cell phone, where a police informant saw suspicious images. Hayes argued that the warrant wasn’t specific enough, but the Court rejected Hayes’s argument by saying it was essentially hyper-technical. Also, in this case, the Arkansas State Police Fusion Center had already properly seized the cell phone, the Court said. This month, in a case from California, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to take a case to address what Fourth Amendment limits exist in cases where police seize a
edged by U.S. “Drug Czar” Gil Kerlikowske as having one of the top prescription drug disposal programs in the nation. The proactive engagement of our law enforcement agencies in preventing prescription drug abuse has led to a huge expansion in prescription drug disposal opportunities for our citizens. In 2010, there were only three permanent prescription drug drop boxes. Today, we have roughly ten times that. Before our coalition formed, there had been only a few stand-alone prescription drug take back events. Today, there have been seven massive, statewide events that collected over 41 tons of unneeded prescription drugs from Arkansas medicine cabinets. Thanks to law enforcement, those 41 tons will now never be available for abuse or subject to criminal activity. Thanks in large part to the Arkansas law enforcement community, our state is now ranked fourth (per capita) nationally in the DEA’s prescription drug take back initiative and is yielding outcomes greater than states with many times our population. I would like to extend my personal appreciation to everyone involved in making Arkansas’s disposal programs so immensely impactful and successful.
cell phone and obtain information on the phone without a warrant. San Diego police officers arrested David Riley some weeks after a gang shooting, and his cell phone was seized at the time. One of the arresting officers looked at the phone at the scene and noticed entries that were consistent with gang lingo. A few hours later, a gang detective further searched the phone knowing that gang members sometimes have incriminating photos or videos of gang activity on their phones. Riley ultimately was convicted of various crimes related to the shooting, and his sentence was enhanced because the crimes were gang related. Riley is asking the Supreme Court to review the California Supreme Court’s decision upholding the search of his cell phone without a warrant. The California Attorney General opposes the case being reviewed because, among other reasons, the searches of Riley’s cell phone were harmless in light of other evidence in the case. The Court is scheduled to consider Riley’s request in mid-January. If the case is taken by the Court, it should be briefed and argued this spring and decided by early summer.
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Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches Name CEO Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches Board of Directors announced in October the appointment of Nancy Weaver, LCSW, as Chief Executive Officer. “Nancy’s deep knowledge and expertise will be a great asset to the Ranch and we are pleased to have her continue our mission of creating safe, healthy and permanent homes for the children of Arkansas,” said Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay, president of the Ranch board of directors. Before joining the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, Ms. Weaver served as regional clinical director at the Pointe Outpatient Behavioral Healthcare in Hot Springs. She also worked for APS Healthcare for nearly five years as the quality manager
U.S. Supreme Court to Consider DWI Stops Prompted by Ci zen Tips By David Raupp Senior Assistant Attorney General Criminal Department The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide later this year whether the Fourth Amendment requires an officer acting on only an anonymous tip of drunk or reckless driving to corroborate the conduct before making a vehicle stop. The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office joined a brief filed by over 30 states to support the reasonableness of such detentions. The case is Navarette v. California, and it is scheduled for oral argument at the High Court this month. A decision can be expected by early summer. In a similar Arkansas case from 1998, the Arkansas Supreme Court held in the 1998 Frette v. City of Springdale case that a citizen tip supported reasonable suspicion for an officer to stop a motorist suspected of DWI. In that case, truck driver Jerry Smith saw another driver drinking beer in the cab of his truck and phoned the Springdale Police Department to report it. Smith provided his name, address, and occupation as well as a description of the red Volvo truck in which he saw the driver drinking. Springdale Police Officer Kwano went to the scene—a commercial truck parking lot behind a McDonald’s restau-
for Arkansas, where she directed all internal and external quality and regulatory compliance functions. Ms. Weaver received her bachelor’s degree from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and a master’s of social work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is also a licensed certified social worker. “I am excited and honored to join the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches as Chief Executive Officer,” said Ms. Weaver. “Throughout my professional career and volunteerism, I have seen the pain that many Arkansas youth have experienced. Many children and teens, which are referred for mental health services, involved in juvenile courts, or placed in DHS custody, find themselves in those situations through no true fault of their own but because of repeated failures of their family systems. I join you in the effort to alleviate the pain these children and teens experience by providing them with loving, supportive, safe, and nurturing homes.”
rant—and discovered Paul Frette sitting behind the wheel of a truck that matched Smith’s description. Kwano ordered Frette out of the truck and noticed an odor of intoxicants. Frette failed several field sobriety tests, and later testing showed his blood-alcohol level was .08%. He conditionally pleaded guilty to DWI, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. The Court upheld Frette’s detention, rejecting his argument that the tip called into police was not reliable. The Court concluded that the tip could support Kwano’s reasonable suspicion to detain Frette because the tip was from a citizen informant who identified himself and personally observed the alleged conduct and because Kwano’s observations corroborated the tipster’s observations. The Court also concluded that the strong public-policy interest in combatting DWI tipped the scale in favor of the reasonableness of the police intrusion on Frette’s expectation of privacy. As the U.S. Supreme Court considers Navarette v. California, it is important to remember that even if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds DWI stops based on anonymous tips, the Arkansas Supreme Court could conclude that state law requires more, such as some identification of the tipster or additional police corroboration of the tip, both of which were important in Frette. Whatever the outcome in Navarette, the Attorney General’s Office will continue to work hard in the Arkansas appellate courts to defend police efforts to combat drunken driving.
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ATTORNEY GENERAL
DUSTIN MCDANIEL ARKANSAS 323 Center Street, Suite 1100 Little Rock, AR 72201 1 (800) 448-3014
EDITOR CINDY MURPHY Communications Director EDITORIAL BOARD ERIKA GEE Chief of Staff J.P. FRENCH Chief, Special Investigations Division DAVID RAUPP Senior Assistant Attorney General SARAH GIBSON Public Affairs
For a subscription to the 10-8 Newsletter call (501) 682-2007 or (800) 448-3014 To read the 10-8 online, go to www.ArkansasAG.gov Follow the AG on Twitter: @AttyGenMcDaniel “Like” the Arkansas Attorney General on Facebook