The interim Chief of the Little Rock Police Department is stepping down at the end of the week.
Wayne Bewley, who most recently served as Assistant Chief of Police, is the second person leading the department in an interim capacity to resign from the job in the past six months. Interim Chief Crystal Young-Haskins stepped down in June after about a month leading the department following the retirement of embattled former Police Chief Keith Humphrey.
Bewley has worked for the LRPD for the past 36 years, beginning as a 19-year-old cadet in 1986. In a statement, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said Bewley has provided “needed stability” to the department, overseeing the move to a new headquarters and the launch of a Real Time Crime Center.
Bewley thanked LRPD staff, Mayor Scott, City Manager Bruce Moore and members of the city’s Board of Directors in a statement.
“This has truly been the dream job of my life and has provided me the opportunity to experience so many things while working with some of the best police officers anywhere in this country,” Bewley said. “With that being said, it is time to move on to the next chapter of my life.”
According to the statement, Bewley has taken a new, unspecified job outside of the department. Mayor Scott says Assistant Chief Heath Helton will begin his tenure as interim chief on Saturday, Dec. 3.
The mayor says he expects to name a new permanent Chief of Police within the next 30 to 60 days.
