Posted on 01/22/2003 8:58:14 AM PST by DCBryan1
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
OTOH, as long as it is being enforced against citizens and off duty LEO citizens alike I don't see where anybody has anything to say about it.
The off duty LEOs may not like it, but tough.
We'll see what wins out: money or "principle."
I wrote principle in scare quotes, because this is really about privilege and professional loyalty. If it were about principle, the officers would oppose ANY licensed gunowner from being forbidden to carry his firearm in the arena. But since the deputies are only upset about their "rights" and those of their brother officers being violated, I say to them, "Get a taste of your own medicine, gentlemen, a good, long swig of it."
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