HSV Police Department Update – Chief Kristi Bennett

Hot Springs Village Police Department

Mission Statement

A. The Hot Springs Village Police Department is dedicated to improving the quality of life by creating a safe environment in partnership with the people we serve.

B. The primary function of the police department is to provide the citizens of our community with professional law enforcement services. This is accomplished through the preservation of the peace, the detection of crime, and the apprehension and prosecution of criminals under local, state, and federal laws.

C. To achieve true success, the police department must cultivate the confidence and respect of the public we serve. This can only be accomplished by the constant and earnest efforts of police officers and civilian staff in the performance of their duties, in an efficient, honest, and business-like manner.

D. Police officers should remember that, in the execution of his/her duties, they act not for themselves, but for the public they serve.

Statement of Values

To fulfill the mission of the Hot Springs Village Police Department, every member of the Department must continually remain true to the following values:

1. We hold as our sacred duty the preservation of life. It is this belief that defines our priorities;
2. We accept nothing less than truth, honesty, and integrity in our profession;
3. We recognize that one basic responsibility is to enforce the law. Our role is to resolve problems, through the law, and not to judge or punish;
4. We view the residents of our community as partners who deserve our concern, care and attention. We are committed to reducing the fear of crime in our community, and we endeavor to do this by creating partnerships in our neighborhoods;
5. We understand that our police powers are derived from the community members we serve. We do not tolerate the abuse of our police authority;
6. We recognize that our personal conduct, both on and off duty, is inseparable from the professional reputation of both our officers and the Department.

Allocation of Commissioned Personnel

Chief Bennett said, “We have twenty-one authorized commissioned officers. We are currently down one officer. In the last year and a half, we have processed over 100 applications. We have had several certified officers apply and several uncertified officers have applied. It just comes down to me as quality over quantity…I am very selective, and so are my agency (my guys), and they appreciate it.” Bennett said they are looking for officers to spend a life-long career at the POA.

“With our salary benefits being more comparable to other agencies in the state, we are able to hold on and keep the retention going.”

“We are very unique here in the Village. We have over 16,000 residents with 468 miles of roadway. That gives us about four officers on the street at any given time. Because of that, we have to have a high degree of trust in our officers. There are going to be times when they are alone for a period of time until their backup can reach them.”

“So trust is very imperative for me to make sure that I trust them to make the right decision, each and every time.”

“I have been working in law enforcement for over 20 years, and I commented to my Commander the other day, for the first time in my entire career, I emphatically trust every police officer I have. I have never had that opportunity to say that. Not that they are not going to make mistakes, because we all make mistakes…But I trust them. I trust their integrity. I value them and know that they will always make the right decision. Again, they might make it slightly different than I would, but it’s always for the good of this community. They are very community-oriented people.

Bennett said when she first started, only four officers lived in the Village, but now there are twelve, and it may be more than that. She said they work with the realtors and locals who have housing to help find housing inside the Village. “We know we are going to get a better benefit with our officers working here onsite. It has been proven twice to be absolutely imperative to have more officers living onsite.” One instance was the tornado, and the second was the big snowstorm.

Central Communications and Records

“Our dispatch plays a vital role in ensuring that our Members get service as soon as possible when they need Fire, EMS, or Police Services.”

There are six full-time dispatchers. “That has been a challenge for us. We have a smaller volume of calls compared to the bigger cities, but we pay a lot less. That is something we are working to overcome. We’ve been very selective also, about choosing our dispatchers.”

Bennett said it is a challenge to find dispatchers who will work nights. “Dispatch is more of a woman-generated field and women don’t want to work nights as much.”

Uniform Patrol Division

The Uniform Patrol Division responds to calls for service and perform the initial investigation. Some of the tasks of the Uniform Patrol Division are:

• Respond to 911 calls for service
• Proactive Patrol
• Traffic Enforcement – “We had 282 traffic stops in the last 23 days.”
• Criminal Surveillance
• Special Events – initial Investigation
• Latent print processing
• Digital photography
• Evidence collection
• Report generation
• Witness and suspect statements
• Vacation house watch – Bennett said they offer a free service if you are on vacation, the police will keep an eye on your house. “We are staying busy with those and cannot stay at the gates as much as everybody would like for us.”

Criminal Investigation Division

“An officer came to us as a former Kansas Police Chief. He walked in and said, ‘Hey, I want to know about the Police Department. My wife and I are living here.’ He walked out with a job.”

“He is an incredible Detective, and we are very glad to have him.

“We have one open position open, and when filled, we will have two Detectives and a Supervisor.”

The Criminal Investigation Division handles crimes involving:

• Crimes against persons
• Crimes against property
• Domestic violence investigations
• Juvenile investigations
• General investigations
• Crime scene investigations
• Sex crimes investigations
• Fraud investigations
• Narcotics investigations

Services Division

The Services Division is the primary function of the Police Department and takes care of all the administrative tasks. “We have rebuilt the department from the ground. It has been an exceptional process, one that I really had no idea in my lifetime, I would ever know this much about cars.” Bennett said she also didn’t think she would know as much about radios, budgeting, etc. I always had people and teams that did that for me. I don’t anymore.”

The primary function of the Services Division is to support the other divisions within the agency logistically. How the Services Division achieves its mission is just as important as achieving it. The Services Division is responsible for managing the Personnel and Training Section, the department’s finance administration function, Central Communications, Criminal Investigations, ALEAP Accreditation, seeking and obtaining grant funding, and media relations. The Services Division plays a key role in providing the necessary logistical support to the Patrol Division and the Criminal Investigation Division.

Shawna Yonts, is the Administrative Commander and has over 21 years of expert crime scene experience. Brad Whiley is the Operational Commander.

Shawna Yonts is responsible for rewriting our Policy and Procedures Manual. We are [still] one chapter short.”

“I have a General Manager who is very supportive, and I have probably learned more in the last year and a half about budgets – two years in July – that I have in my entire career. It’s been a lot of fun.”

“Our Policies and Procedures leads us into 21st century policing, with accreditation. We will be seeking out accreditation at the end of 2024 and be one of 18 agencies in the State of Arkansas that are fully accredited.

2023-2024 HSVPD Accomplishments

1. Streamline the current report process, including accident reports and supplementals.
2. Increase the level of community-oriented policing. Examples of community-oriented policing are “Shop With a Cop,” participation in the Eclipse, and “Trunk or Treat.”
3. Implement JPX [pepper gun] and holsters. Discontinue the use of Tasers. (Thanks to the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association.)
4. Increased firearm training to bi-monthly.
5. We purchased new Glock 9mm Gen 5 pistols. (Thanks to the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association.)
6. Installation of 5 radar units (Thanks to the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association.)
7. Complete Motorola tech upgrade for CAD [Computer-aided Dispatch], RMS [Records Management System], Mapping, and MDTs [Mobile Data Terminals]. “This was a multi-faceted project. Chris Hogue, HSVPOA IT Systems Administrator, was not only instrumental in this, but he was also the number one reason why this program was [successfully implemented]. Chris spent more than long hours. He slept at the Police Department during our ‘go live’ just because he needed to be there…This was an incredible process for all of us, but now we can bring forth services our Members deserve. Just to give you a couple of statistics – Before, we had no way to track anything. Numbers are power. Now, we will submit all of our numbers to the state and the feds monthly. We will [now] be eligible for federal funding when it comes to police safety equipment.” Examples of this are [bullet-proof] vests at $1200 each and radios that we desperately need to the tune of about $1 M when it is all said and done. Any safety equipment for our officers – JPX’s and ammunition – those kinds of things. We will be eligible for state and federal funding, which we’ve never been eligible for before. We have to do one whole year of reporting before we are eligible to even apply for those grants.”
8. Completion of professional personnel files.
9. Completed over 384 hours of specialized training. Over 3000 hours of agency-wide training.
   a. 3 Officers obtained Instructor Certification.
   b. 7 Officers completed BAC training. BAC is Blood Alcohol Concentration.
   c. All top Command staff completed incident command 300 and 400 certifications.
   d. Officer certified as a GLOCK Armorer
   e. 3 Officers obtained Firearms Instructor Certification.
10. Completed all Policies and Procedure updates
11. Implemented New General Orders consistent with the agency agenda.
12. ALEAP Accreditation process prep – “ALEAP accreditation is given to agencies which have exhibited a high level of excellence and professionalism by meeting ALEAP standards.”
13. Obtained ORI number – “An ORI is an origination number. Every law enforcement entity in the United States has one.” Bennett said when she came to the Village, “I was told that we were under the umbrella of Garland County. So basically, Garland was 6000, and we were 6001 – which didn’t make any sense to me in my mind because we arrest people in Saline County every day.” This meant that the Village’s Saline County arrests were counted as Garland County arrests. “ORIs are important because this gives every agency reporting accountability, which every police department and every citizen deserves accountability, not only for the state but also for the federal government. It all starts in the state. Everybody wants to say it is just the feds. No, it all starts in the state.” Bennett said she was told that the Village could not receive its own ORI. Bennett did not understand why the Village could not have its own ORI number when it was required to let the state know how many people we arrest and in what county.” Other private law enforcement entities have the number because it is a requirement.
    • General Manager Kelly Hale said the ORI number allows us to obtain grants. “The mindset in the past was, ‘We want to be the safest community in the world, and if we don’t report anything, numbers don’t lie. That is not the way you do business. To fix the problem, you drag it out in daylight, and you fix it. The problem with that, too, as she [Chief Bennett] stated, is all the numbers went into Garland County. When we’d raise our hand and say, ‘Can we get some money? Can we get some donations?’ [The answer was,] ‘There is no crime in Hot Springs Village. Why do you need money?’ And that is how it worked. We are in a better spot. The Chief has brought a completely new dimension to our community.”

Bennett said our arrest rate is up, but it is nothing new. The police report in the newspaper is not a realistic perception. “People ask me, ‘Why is crime getting so bad in the Village?’ It is not. It has always been the same, but nobody talked about it. We operate on Statue here. It is showing in our numbers. Not that it [crime] wasn’t here before. it is just that now we are doing something about it. That is how we keep our community safe. The community will always be the number one fighting resource for our public safety. The criminal element will not establish itself where it is not allowed.”

Featured image (top) – Hot Springs Village Police Chief Kristi Bennett speaks at 2024 Board Retreat.