Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott says the crime rate is coming down in Arkansas’ capital city.
At a Friday morning press conference, Scott said whether you look at the five-year average or the year-to-date numbers, it is good news for Little Rock’s safety record.
"Over the past five years, we've seen that overall crime has been reduced by 27%, violent crime has been reduced by 21%. Year-to-date, overall crime is down 21%, while violent crime is down 12%. But the most significant number as we look at our end of the year results, particularly over the last five years, is homicides are down, over the past five years, 47%.”
However, there have been 39 homicides in Little Rock so far this year, representing a 5% increase over 2024 year-to-date.
Scott said public safety will remain a top priority going into 2026, and he pointed to the city’s budget passed just this week as evidence.
Little Rock police officers, sergeants and firefighters are slated to receive a 5% salary increase next year.
While maintaining a fully-staffed police force has been a challenge for the city at times, Scott said many of those challenges are coming from typical turnover.
"In the mid-90's, due to the COPS bill of President Clinton, we had an influx of officers across the United States. And so now we're in this retirement season. So any given year you are going to see a retirement of somewhere between 35 to 40 individuals, and that's the reason why we've had a continuous recruitment process, and that's also the reason we give the $10,000 sign-on bonuses.”
Scott said an additional $5,000 is offered to those looking to move to the city for employment with city police. While the city’s fire department is fully staffed, the police force remains at around 90% of full capacity.
Little Rock maintains the highest-paid municipal force in the state.
Little Rock Police Chief Heath Helton attributes the reduction in crime statistics to his department, “getting back to the basics” of policing while building partnerships with other agencies and within the community.
"Our Real Time Crime Center has roughly 2,700 cameras registered. This is individuals that have registered, whether their Ring doorbell or other devices that they may have on their residence, they have registered to let us know they have cameras. Then we have an additional businesses or community stakeholders that have integrated their cameras with our Real Time Crime Center.”
Little Rock Police are focusing patrols on holiday hotspots throughout the rest of the year, and remind everyone to be watchful and secure valuables during the busy shopping and travel season.
