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He's the Law in White County: Spurlock wants the job but gives few specifics about what he would do
By Tim Bousquet
The Daily Citizen
Sunday, October 24, 2004 12:43 AM CST
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Searcy patrolman Steve Spurlock |
Searcy police officer Steve Spurlock wants to become White County's top law enforcement officer, administer a sheriff's department budget of $3 million, oversee a staff of 80 and care for an inmate population hovering around 120.
But he won't say exactly what he'll do in the position, or get specific about why he would be a better man for the job than incumbent Sheriff Pat Garrett. Instead, Spurlock relies on oblique criticisms of Garrett.
"I'm not going to get into specifics, because I'm not going to get negative," said Spurlock. "Let's just say I haven't liked what I've seen. I've been witnessing little things that haven't been good for the department."
Garrett's department has been rocked by scandal in recent weeks. Narcotics officer Britt Simpson was involved in a drunken incident in the East Arkansas town of Brinkley, in which he took a Brinkley cop's gun and threatened civilians with it, used racial epithets to describe black people, and drove while drunk.
Another deputy, Jim Hale, was cited for drunk driving in Dallas, Texas, while on vacation with Garrett and while driving a truck normally driven by the sheriff.
Garrett's critics say he mishandled the incidents, first giving Simpson a minor reprimand and Hale none, then seemingly suggesting to reporters that because they are cops, Simpson and Hale should be held to a different standard than the public in general, and finally accepting Simpson's and Hale's resignation in the face of media scrutiny.
Yet while Little Rock television stations and the state's major newspapers covered the story, Spurlock remained silent. He made no statements, offered no press releases and held no press conferences to comment on his opponent's management of the department, or to question Garrett's direct involvement in Hale's misconduct.
Through an hour-and a half interview, not once did Spurlock mention Simpson or Hale, nor did he comment directly on Garrett's handling of the incidents.
Instead, he produced a copy of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics.
"This says it all," Spurlock said, laying the single sheet of paper on a desk.
Asked repeatedly to specifically delineate the differences between a Spurlock administration and a Garrett administration, Spurlock instead continued to point at the Code of Ethics.
"I just don't want to get into specifics," he said at least four times in the interview.
The Code of Ethics was approved by the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Testing, and all law enforcement officers are required to agree to the code as a condition of employment. It is the kind of common sense statement one would expect from good police officers, declaring they are working to protect the public and will conduct themselves in a respectful and decent fashion.
Spurlock read aloud two sentences from the Code:
"I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn or ridicule... [and be] honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life," and, "I will never act officiously or permit personal, feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions."
Spurlock didn't say exactly why those parts of the code are relevant to his bid to become sheriff.
RESPECT AND DIGNITY
"I just want to bring respect and dignity back into the department," he said.
Spurlock's reluctance to get specific in his criticism of Garrett was matched by a hesitancy to spell out what he would do as an administrator.
"I have four management people in mind for the top four positions," he said, but he would not identify who those people are. "I know two of them for sure, but the other two haven't confirmed yet. I'll make an announcement after the election."
The four administrative officers now working under Garrett are Chief Deputy Wayne Black, Jail Capt. Thomas Ligon, Capt. Jimmy Ervin in charge of criminal investigations, and Lt. Clayton Edwards overseeing patrol officers.
Asked if the four existing administrators would be fired or reassigned, Spurlock said "some of both," but made no further comment on the matter.
Overall, he said, he would bring a missing element of trust back to the department.
"These guys are afraid to even talk to me," he said of the sheriff's deputies. "I don't want people in fear of their jobs - I want everyone playing on the same field at the same time. I've got to earn their respect and they're going to have to earn mine."
Spurlock also said he will change the way deputies patrol the county.
The biggest management change Garrett has made in his four-year tenure is to scrap an eight-hour patrol shift schedule and institute a 12-hour schedule. Garrett said he made the change to provide round-the-clock coverage of the county, which had previously been lacking.
But 12-hour shifts overextend the deputies, said Spurlock.
"After 12 hours, at the end of their shift, they're tired, and then they get a call to a sticky situation, they're not as quick-thinking as they could be. I'm concerned for the safety of the deputies."
Would changing the shift schedule amount to a return to the days when no officers were on duty in the middle of the night?
"I haven't thought of that," said Spurlock. "But the group I'm talking with, we're working hard on figuring out how to do this, and we have some ideas."
Like what?
"I don't want to elaborate until after the election," he said.
"Another problem I have is that the deputies aren't out in their territories," he added.
Spurlock said he often sees deputies congregating together at Waffle House in Searcy for their meals, which he said leaves parts of the county unprotected.
"They can have their supper, but they need to have it in their territories," he said. "We need to be no more than 20 minutes away from any place in the county, and they can't be doing that if they're all over on Race Street."
THE DISPATCH CENTER
Through the interview, the single substantive issue that Spurlock made a definitive statement about concerned administration of the county's dispatch center.
"Give it to the judge," he said, referring to a turf battle over control of the dispatch center between Garrett and County Judge Bob Parish. "That's one less headache for our department. [The dispatch center] is important, but the sheriff's department doesn't need to be in control of it."
Otherwise, Spurlock spoke of broad goals.
He'd like to see deputy pay increased.
"It's frustrating," he said of low pay levels for police officers. "You don't get quality people - you get what you pay for."
The way to increase deputy pay is to get the quorum court to loosen the purse strings, he said.
"I'm hoping to get along with the judge and the quorum court better than the present sheriff," he said.
"We need to see if they can give the sheriff's department more money, then we'll figure out what we can do."
DRUG ENFORCEMENT
His primary concern as a law enforcement officer, said Spurlock, is drug enforcement.
"We need to emphasize on kids in the grade schools," he said. "We need to have more school resource officers," sheriff's deputies who are assigned to work in schools.
How will he pay for them?
"I've got to see what kind of budget we get," he said. "Kyle Stokes [an administrator working under Garrett] has been good with getting grants. There are grants out there we can get for these kinds of things. Our kids are the future of White County."
Spurlock was born and raised in Searcy, graduated from Harding Academy and from there worked as a plumber with Harding University.
He joined the sheriff's department as an auxiliary deputy in 1985 and worked his way up to full-time deputy in 1987. The following year he was accredited by the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy and went on to serve in several capacities with the sheriff's department, including working with Arco, the police dog.
As the sheriff's campaign has heated up in recent weeks, supporters of Garrett have been spreading word of Spurlock's 2001 bankruptcy filing, saying it reflects badly on his ability to manage a government agency.
Spurlock, however, said the bankruptcy is a direct result of an arson attack on his house in 1991.
"It was a firebomb, a gasoline firebomb thrown through the bay window of my step-daughter's bedroom," he said. "It destroyed everything we had. We had to replace everything, our furniture, our clothes, our appliances. We had to build up a lot of debt to pay for that."
Moreover, said Spurlock, the arson attack was related to his employment as a police officer.
But again, pressed for details, he hesitated.
"I'm trying to figure out how to say this - I don't want to get myself liable," he said. "This was all handled by J.R. Howard, who was a state trooper then. I don't want to report hearsay and open myself up for a lawsuit."
Howard, now the director of the state crime lab, said Friday he vaguely remembers the incident, but it was so long ago he can't recall specific information about it.
As for the bankruptcy, Spurlock filed for Chapter 13 protection, which restructured his debt load. He is paying off every penny he owes to creditors, at 10 percent interest.
Spurlock seemingly has a perfect issue to raise on the campaign trail: His personal home was firebombed because he was a cop, causing him to lose his all his possessions.
The event was surely traumatic to the entire family, and he needed some legal protection to help him pay off his debt in full. And he's being criticized for being a victim.
As the national pols say, his case plays well in Peoria. But instead of going on the offensive, Spurlock gets defensive, declining even to mention the arsonist's name.
"This is all something Pat drug up," he said at a follow-up interview to discuss the bankruptcy. "He's looking for anything he can find on me, and this is all there is."
Regardless, in 1990 Spurlock moved over to the Judsonia Police Department and stayed there until 1995, at which time he left law enforcement to work with Little Rock-based Schueck Steel Co.
"I worked everything, from being a plumber to managing a crew," he said. "I traveled all over the country with that company."
Spurlock said he returned to White County in 2002 when Garrett asked his wife Kathy to administer the jail for the county. Steve Spurlock then was hired as a Searcy patrol officer.
Spurlock is in good standing with the Searcy Police Department, and his personnel file, which he released for this article, contains several letters of commendation from the public, and only positive reviews from his superiors.
His wife, however, was fired by Garrett. Kathy Spurlock appealed her dismissal to the personnel committee of the quorum court, which found in Garrett's favor.
Spurlock takes umbrage when his wife's firing is mentioned in relation to his campaign to replace Garrett.
"They always say it's only about my wife," he said. "It has nothing to do with my wife.
"Instead of talking about my wife, they should talk about the reasons I'm running."
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