Former Fort Smith police officer will run for city director post held by Director Hutchings

Retired Fort Smith Police Officer Jarrard Copeland plans to run for the Position 7 At-Large City Director post, which is held by Fort Smith 2018 mayoral candidate Don Hutchings.

Copeland joined the Fort Smith Police Department in November 1991 and retired in May 2017. In a statement to Talk Business & Politics, Copeland expressed a desire to serve and had some tough words for current city leadership.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed spending the last 25 years of my life doing what I could to help reduce the fear of crime in our community and making the City of Fort Smith one of the safest communities in the country,” Copeland said, noting that while his career in law enforcement is over, “my desire to serve the citizens of Fort Smith is still as strong as it was 25 years ago.”

“I believe the citizens of Fort Smith deserve strong leadership – leaders who are willing to listen to their concerns, their ideas, their pleas for a better life, and leaders who put the needs and concerns of the citizens at the top of their list of priorities. Leaders who set a good example and serve as role models for our youth. I have talked to many citizens of Fort Smith, and it is obvious to me that change is wanted and very much needed,” Copeland said.

He added that change needed to be “Not just change for the sake of change, but change that makes sense and makes our community a better place to live and work. … Our citizens want to be heard and appreciated. We deserve much better than what has been offered and in many cases, forced upon us in recent years.”

As one of seven city directors, Copeland said he would act “with honor, integrity, and transparency to restore trust and confidence in our government for our great citizens.”

Copeland said he would use a “common sense approach” to face challenges and embrace opportunities and said every Fort Smith citizen deserves “every opportunity to make the best life possible for ourselves and our families.”

He continued: “Obviously, I want the very best for my family, living in a safe community that allows them to learn and grow to be productive citizens. In addition, I want Fort Smith to be a place that our children will have greater opportunities for the future. The second largest city in Arkansas should not be fighting to keep from falling to third or fourth largest. We should be chasing number one.”

Some of the unrest Copeland is referring to appeared earlier this year when the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 39 and Fort Smith Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 33 launched petition efforts to recall city directors starting with Director Mike Lorenz whose second term ends in 2020. The petitioners stated they had “idly waited for leadership and common sense to return to the board.”

The joint statement said the groups were no longer willing to “sit on the sidelines and tolerate city directors who refuse to do the right thing, who refuse to properly fund public safety, who refuse to properly staff the police department, who don’t keep their promises, who don’t value city employees and who would rather dismantle or circumvent citizen committees/boards when they don’t like a decision.”

That reference is to an attempt by Fort Smith Police Chief Nathaniel Clark to hire external applicants for upper management positions instead of continuing the longstanding policy of promoting from within. Clark’s plan was not supported by the FOP and was rejected by the Fort Smith Civil Service Commission. City Directors André Good, Keith Lau, Mike Lorenz, and Tracy Pennartz disagreed with the decision. Good called it a “closed system” and made public statements that if the commission didn’t allow Chief Clark to do his job, the Board should consider disbanding it.