By Ray King
The Pine Bluff chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police is at odds with Mayor Shirley Washington after an incident that occurred at the scene of a homicide on Sept. 3.
Sgt. Bill Wiegand, who is president of the FOP and supervises the Crime Scene unit said he heard a lot of yelling and thought it was a distraught family member. Instead it was the Mayor who told Greg Horne and Will Jenkins Friday that it was the first homicide she had ever been to.
Appearing on the Oldies 101.3 morning show, Washington said she had received calls from residents on Lilac Street, where the homicide occurred, for more than two years.
Washington said police sent the Violent Crimes Unit into the neighborhood and things quieted down for a while, then started up again and so did the calls from residents, and when the call came in about the homicide, she went to the scene.
While there, Wiegand said she pushed Sgt. Lynn Wright, and on Tuesday, Washington met with Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant, Wiegand, and other officers, and spoke to Wright on the telephone.
During that meeting, Wiegand told Washington that her statements were critical of the entire department.
After discussing several ideas of how to say she was sorry, Washington and police representatives agreed that she would make a statement on the department’s tactical frequency.
Later in the interview Friday, Washington was reminded that she had been reelected with 75 percent of the total vote and asked where she and the police department go from here.
