Police & Fire

Joe L. Ruffiner was the first marshal and recorder of the town of North Little Rock, incorporated in 1901 north of the Eighth Ward. In 1904, the town council hired Gabe Pratt Sr. as marshal.

Pratt became the first police chief after North Little Rock organized a citygovernment in April 1904. He supervised a sergeant and eight patrolmen, who either walked their beats or rode horses.

Located in the City Hall and fire station at 506 Main from 1904 to April 1915, police headquarters also had a holding cell in back. The police moved with other city offices in 1915 to City Hall at 300 Main, with a 16-cell jail in the basement.

Criminal and misdemeanor charges and violations were brought before a police court, presided by Judge John B. Sibeck (1904-13) and James Gerlach (1913-15).

Authorized by state law, police courts became municipal courts in 1915 and Gerlach continued as judge until he was impeached and removed in 1918.

Police revenue through court fines was a reliable source of income for the city. The department’s annual budget in 1917 was almost $12,000, with about $7,000 for salaries.

In 1918 a motorcycle was the department’s first motorized vehicle, followed by a Ford Model T automobile in 1922. An increase in traffic and vehicle violations reflected greater use of police cars and motorcycles, though patrolmen still walked their beats.

Mayor Ross Lawhon reorganized the department in 1929, with a chief, assistant chief, two desk sergeants, a motorcycle squad of five, four detectives, and two patrolmen. The police force numbered 27 in 1939 and grew to 31 in 1945.

After passage of a new traffic code in 1939, the city posted more speed limit and stop signs. Drivers were given a short period of voluntary compliance before enforcement began. Traffic lights weren’t installed until September 1941.

Communications with patrol cars improved in 1940. Two-way radios replaced the one-way station that alerted patrol cars to an incident. Motorcycles continued to use the one-way system. A more effective dispatch operation was created with the hiring of an operator and a technician.

A three-way radio system installed in 1947 made instantaneous communication between patrol cars possible and reduced static. The remotely controlled transmitter required erection of a new 15-foot tower on top of the 100-foot water tower in Park Hill.

Traffic issues continued to escalate as more cars hit the roads in the post-World War II period and the city doubled in size, after annexation of Rose City, Prothro Junction, Tie Plant, Dixie, the rest of Dark Hollow, Park Hill, Levy, Scenic Hill, Fort Roots, and Vestal Addition. Jurisdiction covered 17.5 square miles and the population increased from 21,137 in 1940 to 39,552 in 1948.

Establishment of a Civil Service Commission in 1934 brought more job security and regular hours for the rank and file, but led to political tensions between the commission and city administration over the hiring and firing of police chiefs and officers.

Instead of the mayor, the commission in 1940 hired Joseph H. “Andy” Anderson as chief, based on an exam. In 1995, state law re-established the mayor’s authority to hire and fire the chief.

In late 2000, Mayor Patrick H. Hays appointed Danny Bradley as police chief, the first appointment by a mayor since 1931 when Mayor U.E. Moore hired Gabe Pratt Jr. as chief. Pratt was dismissed by the commission in 1939 during a Grand Jury investigation of the department.

While hiring and firing of the chief is still the mayor’s prerogative today, the Civil Service Commission retains the authority to review appeals by police officers and firefighters for disciplinary actions.

Having outgrown its space at City Hall, the police and court moved to 200 West Pershing in 1961. The department employed 49 uniformed officers, 18 detectives, plus the administration and support staff, all totaling 82.

Having 18,000 square-feet in the new headquarters allowed for two detective units, a Crimes against Persons division that handles violent crimes and a Crimes against Property division. There were also interrogation rooms, a records-keeping bureau as large as the former headquarters, a radio dispatch area, a radio repair shop, eight private offices, assembly and report rooms, a conference hall and a photography lab, which had occupied an abandoned restroom at City Hall.

The building came with a new jail of 52 beds, replacing the old cage-like cells at City Hall that had once been compared to the infamous Bastille of 18th century France and had drawn criticism by grand juries for two decades that deemed the overcrowded old jail as lacking in proper ventilation and unfit for human habitation.

Ample parking around the new headquarters and courthouse benefitted the police and public. In 1969, a second division of the Municipal (now District) Court was established to address a growing case load.

As policing changed from the 1970s to 2000, community outreach programs have attempted to bring the police and neighborhoods closer together. These included the Police Athletic League, Community Oriented Policing, and Citizen Police Academies, among others.

Up until the 1970s, gambling and alcohol preoccupied law enforcement. Since then, drug crimes have taken center stage. In the 1990s, the police formed a SWAT Team that worked in tandem with the city attorney’s office and code
enforcement to fight crime in blighted neighborhoods.

Police work has always presented an element of danger. The first officer killed while on duty was Frank Neighbors, 39, whose motorcycle was hit by an automobile in November 1929.

Officer John E. Charles, 24, was given “one chance out of a thousand” to survive a bullet wound to his gut in late 1930, according to the North Little Rock Times. Charles was shot by a robber during a shootout in front of a boarding house on West Washington. His life hung in balance for three weeks after the bullet left 32 perforations in his intestines, but he recovered and went on to serve more than 30 years.

Officer Floyd Norwood barely escaped injury or death in 1961 when an armed burglar at the North Little Rock Water Company fired at Norwood and missed his head by inches. The burglar managed to escape despite a hail of gunfire from Norwood and other officers.

In the early hours of April 16, 1963, Officer Gene Barentine, with backup from Officer Jerrell P. Vaughan, stopped a car on the old England highway, based on reports of a pistol whipping and possible kidnapping at a Little Rock nightclub. Barentine was frisking the driver when the passenger fatally shot Vaughan, 32, who managed to shoot back several times and likely saved Barentine’s life by incapacitating the passenger.

Responding to a domestic disturbance call in early 1982, Officer Jerry C. Davis, 26, was killed by gunshots. He and Officer David Schalchlin were escorting a woman and her daughter from a Rose City residence, when her husband picked up a .22 rifle that Davis tried to wrestle away from him, but was shot.

Ralph (Mac) McMoran, 68, lost his life on April 23, 2008, during a police training session. He had served on the force for 37 years. In a memorial service, Police Chief Danny Bradley said McMoran had “made a difference.” Sgt. J.V. Williams told D.J. Smith, author of North Little Rock Police Department: Commemorative History 1904-2009 that “Mac was police and he enjoyed what he was doing.”

Sgt. J.L. “Buck” Dancy, 62, died in late 2020 after battling Covid-19 for several weeks. He contracted the virus while on duty as a detective in the Crimes against Persons unit. An officer since 1985, Dancy helped the families of violent crime victims.

In 2021, the 191-officer Police Department, two divisions of District Court and the Information Technology Department occupied the 84,000 square-foot, two-story brick and glass Justice Center at 2600 Poplar Street.

The building is equipped with the latest technology that will help stay ahead of crime in the age of the internet. Spread out in nine buildings around the city, the Police Department has now consolidated several divisions into a central location at the Justice Center. A second 6,500 square-foot building on site houses police special operations vehicles and training classrooms.

More space, modern furnishings, a larger dining area, and a gym offer enhancements to help recruit new officers. There is more room for the Information Technology staff, closed door cubicles for detectives and an area for the repair of aerial drones. A 5,000 square-foot community technologically equipped meeting room is another feature.

Long glass windows let in ample natural light. Separate entrances for the public provide better security.

Professionalism, uniforms, weaponry, equipment and communications have evolved in police work over the years.

Officers still wear blue, though styles change.

After enlarging and remodeling the 1895 two-story fire house at 506 Main to accommodate city offices and sleeping quarters upstairs for firefighters and two horse-drawn hose wagons downstairs, the North Little Rock City Council chose Walter Powers as the new city’s first fire chief in 1904.

His department had two captains, two drivers, and four hosemen. Initially volunteers, the hosemen were fully paid by 1908.

An 850-pound iron bell installed in the belfry atop the building sounded fire and curfew alarms.

Until two new horse-drawn wagons and two teams of horses arrived, the fire department leased a fire wagon from Little Rock and two horses, Dick and Dock. Horse harnesses hung from ceiling racks. The collar had two long straps, with only one side fastened. When the alarm bell rang, the horses were quickly positioned so the harnesses could be lowered onto them and the other strap fastened.

Called to its first fire on May 9, 1904, at Metz’s Saloon in the 100 block of East Washington, soda-acid type fire extinguishers put out the blaze. This was one option the department had at the time, the other being to connect fire hoses to a hydrant, if water pressure was sufficient.

An inventory in 1917 identified a 13-year-old, 1,475-pound Bay horse named Jeff; an 18-year-old, 1,250-pound Serral horse named Bill; and a 30-year-old, 1,300-pound black horse named Dan. There were two fire wagons valued at $600, fire hoses, collars, harnesses, hitches, various feed bags, buckets and a supply of feed.

An American LaFrance pumper, capable of pumping 350 gallons of water a minute, was the department’s first motorized truck in early 1917. Designated Engine 1, this new chain-wheeled drive apparatus lacked suspension springs and the chain would often fly off the sprocket when the vehicle hit a bump, forcing firefighters to stop and put the chain back on.

In 1918, the city built the department’s second fire station at 15th and Pike on land donated by Missouri Pacific Railroad. The station housed a second motorized truck, with a chassis originally for a Model T Ford owned by Mayor James P. Faucette. The hose bed was from one of the horse-drawn wagons. By 1919 the fire department had four trucks. Its expenses no longer included feed or shoeing for horses.

A third station opened at 2201 East Third (Broadway) in the 1920s. Firefighters had only four days off per month until the City Council approved a two-platoon work schedule, but pay and work hours were reduced to save money.

Although in need of replacement in 1929, the department’s 1925 Dodge Foamite/Childs fire engine lost a wheel responding to an alarm and one man was thrown from the truck. Credit went to the driver, Doc Gross, for averting what could have been a more serious accident.

The first fire chief’s car, a “brilliant red” Chevrolet Roundabout, equipped with a siren, was purchased in 1929 for Chief Roy Nichols, who had been taking the trolley to inspect fires.

In the mid-1930s, as fire trucks got bigger, the front of the main station at 506 Main was replaced to provide larger doors. Additional fire stations were built on Park Hill in 1938 and in Rose City in 1949.

When North Little Rock annexed Levy in 1946, the fire station there had borrowed a truck from Camp Robinson. Eventually the city bought a used 1936 Ford pumper for Levy.

A new Fire Station 2 at 3700 East Broadway in 1955 replaced the three-decadesold station at 2301 East Broadway that a car had crashed into the year before. Features of the modern building included an all-electric kitchen and fire hose
dryer, plus an air-conditioning and heating system.

In 1961, the Central Fire Station moved to a new building at 723 Maple. Also in 1961, construction of Amboy Fire Station was completed. A new Levy Fire station opened in 1964. All have since been renovated, rebuilt, or moved.

An American LaFrance 900 Series Pumper, the city’s largest fire truck at the time, arrived by train in 1966. Capable of pumping 1,250 gallons of water a minute, the pumper was tested at Lake No. 1 in Lakewood and placed into service at the Central Fire Station.

Stations opened in Indian Hills in 1977, Highway 70 in 1988, and Maumelle in 1993. New stations have since opened in Amboy, Burns Park, and Levy.

Because the Main Street viaduct, built in 1907, couldn’t support heavy vehicles like fire trucks, firefighters had to go under the bridge and cross several rail tracks to reach fires on the other side. Accidents occurred frequently on the at-grade crossing, but no fire trucks were involved. In 1921, a house burned down while a fire truck waited for a train to pass. A new viaduct in 1927 alleviated the problem.

Argenta High School at Fourth and Willow burned down in 1925 due to inadequate equipment and lack of water pressure. Water from hoses barely reached the second floor of the three-story school, which was rebuilt.

No fatalities had occurred until 1930 when a section of wall inside a burning West Washington Avenue building fell on Leroy Cook of Company 1. Fireman John P. Caldwell (fire chief later) heroically pulled Cook from the hot rubble of brick, but Cook died a few days later. The next year, Fireman K.A. Williams died of what newspapers described as “acute indigestion” after fighting a fire earlier in the day.

Unlike today, the department used no criteria for weight, height, age and mental or physical condition in hiring or required any probationary period. The department employed 25 people who worked 12-hour shifts. But even while off duty, firefighters remained on-call to respond to fires and had to notify the chief in advance if they couldn’t be available.

Firefighters began working 24-hour shifts, with 48 hours off in 1969, a schedule used to this day.

In 1987, during widespread flooding, firefighters waded through waist-deep water to rescue people from burning homes. Captain Floyd Winkler in 1988, while fighting a fire at Mincey Auto Machine Company at 2723 East Broadway, fell through a fiberglass skylight on the smoke-covered roof. The fall of about 14 feet injured Winkler’s chest, elbow and hip, eventually leading to his retirement.

Firefighter Mark Wittenburg was hospitalized for burns in 1988 after falling through the roof in a fire that burned down the C.B. Thompson Super Market in Rose City. His rescue was delayed because firefighters could not break through a reinforced door with axes, but they did tear through an exterior wall to reach him. Three other firefighters were treated for minor injuries.

Fire trucks by 1957 carried two-way radios, improving the ability to call for reinforcements, instead of finding a telephone or citizen to call for help.

The department’s first rescue truck, acquired in 1963, was a Jeep Wagoneer, with “CD” emblems on the driver and passenger doors, signifying Civil Defense during the Cold War. Its designation as Rescue 19 was given because numbers 1-18 were in use by other department trucks and cars.

Training at a Red Cross Lifesaving course in 1963 paid off for Hoseman Paul Stricklin on Engine 6 out of Levy. Responding to a house fire at 1619 West 46th street, the firefighter learned that people were still inside the burning house.

Stricklin crawled on the floor in dense smoke, found an unconscious woman behind her bedroom door and pulled her out of the house, with assistance from Police Officer W.C. Lambert. Stricklin administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to bring her back to life. The Red Cross awarded Stricklin and Lambert for their
heroics.

In 1977, training in emergency medical aid began. Each fire truck carried medical equipment as first responders, since fire trucks usually were the closest emergency vehicle to arrive on a scene.

A seven-person Hazardous Materials Response team formed in 1986 received specialized training involving leaks or spills of hazardous material, especially at rail yards in the city.

Knowledge of department and Civil Service Commission rules and regulations was emphasized with a change in testing for promotions. Seniority counted for less. Candidates had to study several fire-related books and perform a practical assessment.

With oversight from Captains Danny Williford and Phil Flynn, the department formed a rope team in the 1990s that trained for rescues on cliffs, tall buildings, and steep terrain. Known today as the Special Operations Team, the crew
performs high- and low-angle rescues, along with rescues in swift water, trenches, and confined spaces.

In 1999, the department under the leadership of Captain Phil Pounders devised a community education program called the Citizens Fire Academy, the first in Arkansas. Students had the opportunity to learn about the department and
receive hands-on experience with the techniques and tools used in firefighting.

Until 2004 firefighters still rode on the tailboard of some trucks, but the last five were retired, allowing personnel to ride together in an enclosed cab and improving safety and communication.

Always dangerous work, firefighting has progressed with improved trucks, equipment, and training. Units include rescue, haz-mat, and special operations.

Upgrades in training and equipment, improvements to the city’s water system and additional fire stations greatly improved response times. This enabled the Fire Department to lower its Insurance Service Organization rating from 4 to 2 in 1994, giving residents lower fire insurance premiums.

By 2004, the department had 151 firefighters, 10 fire stations, nine pumpers, two aerial trucks, two heavy rescue trucks, and two boats.

In the past fire companies displayed large city maps at stations and inside trucks. Employees memorized the streets and locations of all fire hydrants in their assigned districts, but also used the maps to reference locations outside their
initial response area.

While the maps are still displayed at the stations, each now have large monitors that show incoming dispatch information. Fire trucks also have laptops with software that pinpoint exact addresses and the location of fire hydrants. If multiple trucks are dispatched, company officers can see where the other units are and can plot their route to an incident.

Today, the initial response to a house fire involves dispatching one heavy rescue vehicle, one aerial ladder truck, and two battalion chiefs, one acting as incident commander and the other as Safety Officer. A Rapid Intervention Team can also be sent if a firefighter issues a MAYDAY.

This is a far cry from the days when one fire wagon responded to a fire.

–Phil Pounders