(AR) Arena forbids off-duty cops carrying guns

[Drizzt]

Copyright 2003 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


January 20, 2003, Monday

SECTION: ARKANSAS; Pg. 7

LENGTH: 870 words

HEADLINE: Arena forbids off-duty cops carrying guns Attorney general opinion backs policy on weapons

BYLINE: BY JAKE SANDLIN ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE

BODY:
Off-duty police officers risk being turned away from a game or concert at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock if they carry an otherwise legally concealed weapon, a state attorney general's opinion states.

An attorney general's Jan. 10 opinion received last week by city officials backs a policy that bans a handgun inside the $ 80 million, publicly and privately financed arena even if the person carrying it also carries a badge.

The practice is also followed at other Arkansas arenas, including the largest: 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena at the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

Alltel Arena has enforced a no-weapons policy since its October
1999 opening. However, after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11,
2001, Alltel and venues throughout the country have stepped up weapon vigilance.

Only a handful of guns has been detected on patrons since the Sept. 11 attacks, Alltel Arena General Manager Michael Marion said Friday, but each time an off-duty police officer had the gun.
"Everything we can do to make sure there are no firearms in the building - except for the people who are supposed to have them and are here working - I think everyone who comes here will feel better knowing that," Marion said.

The opinion, prepared by Assistant Attorney General Suzanne Antley, states that provisions of Arkansas Code Annotated 5-73-306(b) "override the authority" of an off-duty officer carrying a concealed weapon. The section states that carrying a concealed handgun "may be disallowed in any place in the discretion of the person or entity exercising control over" that site.

Attorney General Leon Johnson said that an opinion issued last year by former Attorney General Mark Pryor said law officers may carry a concealed handgun "in any area of the state." However, the previous opinion refers to situations where officers "were not otherwise prohibited" from carrying such weapons, the opinion says.

City and arena officials sought the opinion because some officers turned away have challenged the rule, often leaving it up to North Little Rock officers hired by the arena to confront a fellow officer.

"It's put our police officers in an awkward situation," said Paul Suskie, North Little Rock's city attorney.

A memo quoting the attorney general's view and arena policy soon will go out to area police departments, North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley said Friday.

"Once we get the word out to everyone, I don't expect it to be an issue," Bradley said.

The strengthened policy, though, could mean a change of habit for many off icers, some local police spokesmen said.

"The majority of officers I know do carry guns off-duty," said Major J.R. Howard, law enforcement operations commander for the Arkansas State Police. "Policy does not say we will be armed, but I would say we do encourage it."

The rule won't bother others, though, said John Rehrauer, spokesman for the Pulaski County sheriff's office.

"I would doubt if anybody attending an event would try to carry a weapon into Alltel," Rehrauer said. "I don't think it would affect us very much."

Officers from Little Rock might differ, said Little Rock Police Department spokesman Sgt. Terry Hastings. Little Rock policy dictates that officers be armed inside the city limits at all times, Hastings said. Besides, he added, a police officer is never really "off duty."

"It's a very bad policy," Hastings said of the arena's rule. "I personally would not surrender my weapon if I was going there and they're missing out having another police officer inside that event."

The concern isn't over an armed professional law officer in a sports or concert crowd, Marion said, but about the simple added presence of a firearm in a crowd.

"An off-duty officer sits down with a group of people and maybe another patron gets rowdy or out of control and takes the officer's gun," he said. "And if we're all on this heightened state of alert, if somebody comes in with a gun, how do we verify they are who they say they are? By having this policy, it's not a problem."

Alltel isn't alone. An off-duty police officer wanting to call the Hogs as a fan at Arkansas Razorback basketball games isn't allowed to wear a gun inside Bud Walton Arena, either. Likewise at the Pine Bluff Convention Center in Pine Bluff.

"If they're not working the event, they can't carry a firearm," Walton Arena Manager Fred Vorsanger said. "[The opinion] just reinforces that."

Pine Bluff 's Convention Center, which plays host to concerts and basketball games, has no set policy for off-duty officers but will refuse entry to anyone with a handgun, even a police officer, said Steven Barnett, the center's deputy director. An armed off-duty officer isn't needed in the center, he added.

"We normally have uniformed officers [working] here, and they're identified by that uniform," Barnett said.

Therein lies the possible problem with an officer-turnedfan in an
18,000-capacity crowd at Alltel Arena who reacts to an emergency, said the state police's Howard.

"An off-duty officer pulling a gun," he said, "doesn't look any different than anyone else pulling a gun."

This story was originally published on Monday, January 20, 2003.

 

[Ledbetter]

So that settles it. No uniform--no gun.

If I hadn't already done so for obvious political reasons, I would cross Arkansas off my list of places to move to from PRK.

 

[TallPine]

Well, good - maybe this will get some cops back over on our side of things, once they are treated like the rest of us.

(with apologies to the cops that already ARE on our side - I wasn't talking about you)

 

[Bob Locke]

If the average Joe can't carry, then neither should an off-duty police officer.

This dividing up of the citizenry of this country has GOT to stop.

 

[DeltaElite]

Hmmmmmmmm, my dept says I am always to carry, since I am always on duty or on call and required to be armed and take action.
Oh well, I wouldn't be wasting my money in a place like that anyway.
Idiots, surrounded by morons, birthed by imebciles are making the decisions.

 

[sm]

I'm across the river from Alltel. Topic discussed at lunch today. Short story-- AR is shall issue, recips CCW with a # of states, non-res FL included. Me and others don't like restrictions, continue to fight to improve our situation, but thankful we are not some states with no rights.

Many areas, events, merchants ...etc, are boycotted and we make it known as to why. Business owner, political , individuals get pressured.


Edited, just one hot topic being discussed down here, after re-reading my post and some pro 2A conversation tonight--well plans and actions are being formulated.

 

[Blackhawk]

Why would I want to go where I'm not wanted to commingle with people I have nothing in common with since they're willing to be targets?

 

[WYO]

The reality is that a statute authorizing off duty police to carry concealed is subject to the same private property rights as a CCW statute that allows concealed carry. The proprietor can decide that it doesn't want people carrying, and take whatever consequences flow from that. Of course, if the police manage to sneak by with their guns, it's not against the law.

re1973, your post was a little unclear about the scope of the boycott. The real boycott occurs when the police decide that they won't work there in an off-duty security detail.

 

[sm]

.

 

[Drizzt]

Officers hot as a pistol over arena’s gun ban

BY AUSTIN GELDER
ARKANSAS Democrat-GAZETTE


A policy banning off-duty police from carrying handguns inside Alltel Arena is under fire from local officers who say they’ll boycott arena events rather than part with their weapons.

Ten deputies with the Pulaski County sheriff ’s office resigned from their part-time security jobs at the arena this week in protest of the gun ban. Their decision to quit was also driven by disappointment that they have not been called to work very many arena events.

"Most policemen I’ve talked to are highly offended about this" policy, said Skipper Polk, chief deputy for the Pulaski County sheriff ’s office. "Our deputies are very well-trained and professional. They feel like this is a slap at their professionalism, a slap at their abilities."

The 10 deputies also drafted a letter to the Arkansas attorney general’s office asking the staff to reconsider an opinion that supports the North Little Rock arena’s handgun policy.

Polk and other opponents of the ban point out that most law enforcement officers in the county carry their weapons at all times. They say having armed, off-duty officers in the crowd would make arena events safer.

With a weapon, "even if you’re off duty, you can respond to a crisis and protect yourself," Polk said.

But Alltel Arena General Manager Michael Marion said the presence of firearms in large crowds could be explosive. He fears what could happen if someone snatches a gun from an offduty officer. He also wonders how arena officials would verify that arena patrons wanting to carry guns in with them are really off-duty officers.

Weapon bans are in place at other Arkansas arenas, including the 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville and the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Similar policies are in effect in arenas across the country.

"We’re not out on a limb on this," Marion said. "You’d be hard-pressed to find a facility to let guns in."

Alltel Arena had a noweapons policy in place when it opened in October 1999 but intensified enforcement after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"We’re searching people more with metal detectors and patdowns," Marion said.

Security officers working the doors often end up with basketfuls of pocketknives that patrons forfeit rather than carry back to their cars.

The arena does not allow patrons to check weapons in at the start of an event and pick them up when it’s over.

"I am just not interested in having guns laying around," Marion said.

The few who have been caught trying to bring guns into the 18,000-seat arena since the attacks have all been off-duty police officers, Marion said.

North Little Rock and arena officials sought an attorney general’s opinion on the handgun ban after off-duty officers challenged the policy after trying to attend arena events while carrying firearms. North Little Rock officers hired for arena security were forced into the awkward situation of confronting their fellow officers, said North Little Rock City Attorney Paul Suskie.

The Jan. 10 opinion affirming the arena’s weapon policy states that provisions of Arkansas Code Annotated 5-73-306(b) "override the authority" of an offduty officer carrying a concealed weapon. The section states that carrying a concealed handgun "may be disallowed in any place in the discretion of the person or entity exercising control over" that site.

The $80 million Alltel Arena, paid for with a mix of public and private funds, is run by a private company and overseen by an arena board. All board members agree on the gun ban, Marion said.

Off-duty officers who refuse to put their guns away can get a full refund for their tickets.

Although Marion won’t budge on the weapon policy, he said he’ll try to attract Pulaski County deputies back to his security force by offering them more hours.

Regardless, arena events will be as safe as possible, he said.

"We have a large pool of officers that we draw from. We’d like to have the county folks in that pool, but it’s not going to compromise the security of the Alltel Arena."

Antiweapon arguments haven’t won over many supporters at the Little Rock Police Department, where officers are insulted by the policy, department spokesman Terry Hastings said.

Hastings said he will not attend arena events and expects many of his co-workers will do the same.

"I’m not going anywhere without my weapon, personally," he said. "If something happens, I want to do something about it because I’m a police officer."

No Little Rock officers provide security for arena events, he said.

North Little Rock officers, who make up the bulk of the security force at the arena, haven’t complained about the handgun ban, North Little Rock Police Chief Danny Bradley said.

"That’s a decision that’s been made by the arena staff. I understand the rationale for doing so," he said.


This story was published Wednesday, January 22, 2003

 

[PATH]

When you put on ther badge you are LE in or out of uniform. I would hope that fellow officers put integrity before money and not work at the arena.

I think a boycott is called for. Getting an off duty officers firearm is a red herring. A uniformed officer might also have that unlikely event happen. I personally would feel safer knowing that armed LE people were in the crowd.

Sounds like people should be encouraged to vote with their wallets. I support LEO having their firearms with them!

 

[labgrade]

Part of the "private rights" issue I see here is this arena is also publicly funded - one of them "public/private partnerships."

No different than a park, if you ask me.

 

[Spark]

Wah. Deal with it - cops are still civilians. What's good enough for us is good enough for them.

 

[labgrade]

No argument from me, spark.

My point is that while partially publically funded (which should be open for whoever carry) isn't, because then they pull the private property bit - which can bar CCW.

Catcha 22

 

[tyme]

Not even on-duty police should be able to carry into a place where citizens cannot by law. If the city/state cares about safety, maybe she should allow citizens to go armed. Her Majesty's [state/city] Police Reactionary Force only provides a minimum increase in safety.

 

[DeltaElite]

 

[JoeSF]

So they don't trust their own police to carry guns. Interesting

 

[mrat]

I think supporting gun phobia is short sighted regardless if it is in regards to LEOs, CCWs or both.

 

[Spark]

"Special Exemptions" for "Special Classes" of people is elitism and in the long run is worse in my opinion. If the masses are treated poorly, then giving the police special treatment doesn't do anything more than further drive the "us vs. them" wedge - and create the mindset that "Oh, it's ok for the police but not you, peasant"

There's no reason at all why an off duty police officer should be able to carry into an arena where alcohol is being served, and I can't (with a valid CCW).

Kevin

 

[Joe Demko]

Mas Ayoob once described certain actions as using the badge to steal privileges not available to the general public. In the article I'm thinking of, he was trying to make a case that off duty officers need to cary ID, a gun, and cuffs or other restraints...IOW the very most basic tools for making an arrest. This situation sounds to me like some guys crying over that very situation.
The Sheriff for whom I work mandates that deputies get a carry permit for off-duty carry. His policy, right or wrong, is that you use "his" badge only for "his business." You want to carry off-duty, then you get a permit.
I don't feel too sorry for these cops and deputies. Among other things, I've never been too comfortable with the idea of cops moonlighting as private security (in uniform here in Pittsburgh!) nor do I like the idea of some animals being more equal than others.
Everybody can carry or nobody can carry sounds good to me.

 

[Monte Harrison]

If I hadn't already done so for obvious political reasons, I would cross Arkansas off my list of places to move to from PRK.

You are confusing Little Rock with Arkansas. Little Rock is not Arkansas; it is the urban enclave surrounded by Arkansas.