LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Following the murder, captured on camera of George Floyd “there was a lot of frustration,” Timothy Campbell said.
Campbell was on the 25-member task force to advance the law enforcement in Arkansas.
The law enforcement task force was formed by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in 2020 following the death of George Floyd to take a look and change the way policing is done in the Natural State.
“Making sure we have the right people on the streets protecting our citizens,” Hutchinson said in the December 2020 press conference where he announced the final report from the committee.
27 recommendations were sent to the governor after months of meeting.
Campbell says one of the main recommendations was for the increased use of body cameras so there can be footage where a sustainable legal case can be made for progress.
Other recommendations were:
- enhance accountability for excessive force, dishonesty and deceit by having a mandatory report.
- double the amount of bias training from two hours to four hours.
- developing programs with faith and community leaders to bring the police in touch with the community.
- have more consistent awareness of the crisis stabilization unit.
- support bilingual information sessions on what to do if you are pulled over and a person’s rights.
- increase the ratio of full-time to part-time officers.
- require every agency to have a full-time police chief.
Friday, video was released showing five Memphis police officer’s beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who was stopped for a traffic violation on January 7. He died three days later.
The five officers have been charged with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
As people protest for Nichols, like they did for Floyd, Campbell says police reform that all can be proud of will continue to call for conversations and recommendation like the ones the Arkansas law enforcement task force had.
“It’s a forever marathon to getting to the place we call progress,” Campbell said.
He feels all states should mirror the actions of former Governor Asa Hutchinson to form a law enforcement task force.
Adding that if current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders wants to keep it going, he’d love to continue to stay on the front lines of this mission.
