By: Ray King
A change in policy that will allow Pine Bluff Police officers with more than 20 years of service who live outside the city limits to take home a vehicle was approved by the Pine Bluff City Council Wednesday night.
The previous policy applied only to officers who lived inside the city limits and Police Chief Denise Richardson explained to Deltaplex News why she asked for the change.
The new policy provides that take home vehicles will be authorized on a case to case basis and if abused, the privilege will be revoked.
In the event an officer with a take home vehicle is called out, they are required to arrive on scene within 45 minutes and only the employee or authorized city official can operate the vehicle.
Also approved was legislation waving competitive bidding and allowing Mayor Shirley Washington to sign a contract with the National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) at John Jay College.
The college is to provide consultation work for the Group Violence Intervention program the city is undertaking in collaboration with the Sixth (Juvenile) Division of Circuit Court.
The college will be paid $120,000 with the City of Pine Bluff responsible for $30,000 of that and Juvenile Court picking up the remaining $90,000. Pine Bluff’s share will be taken from proceeds from the Go Forward sales tax.
