The Little Rock and Pine Bluff police departments are collaborating in an effort to target violent criminals.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said the departments will be meeting, sharing intelligence and working with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms in an effort to reduce crime.
“Evidence shows that the crime that we are addressing is not unique,” Washington said. “Building a stronger, more coordinated partnership with Little Rock is crucial to these efforts because our overall goals at the end of the day align.”
Many of the same people are committing crimes in both cities, officials said. Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphey said he believes this will be an effective approach to targeting those criminals.
“In order to decrease our crime we must have that holistic approach,” Humphrey. “We have to stress the importance of conflict resolution, that’s what we are continuing to see.”
“A lack of conflict resolution not only in the city of Little Rock, but also in the city of Pine Bluff.”
Scott said the city is experiencing a decrease in violent crimes. A graph shown to reporters indicated that violent crimes per week compared to 2021 were down 6%.
“We see violent crime decrease at a peak somewhere around 26% in January 31st as now trending down with somewhere around 6% as in relation to this week. That is a downward trend.” Scott said.
Little Rock city officials have been holding weekly press conferences to discuss efforts to combat violent crime. Scott Jr. said those will now transition to once a month which will enable them to provide more specific crime data.