By John Dobberstein, Editor
One of the issues leading to Broken Arrow Police Chief Lance Arnold being placed on paid leave was his handling of an warrantless arrest that he admitted violated city policies, but his attorney said Monday that officers were re-trained with the approval of the city’s legal department.
Emails shared in the media and cited by Arnold’s attorney, D. Mitchell Garrett Jr., show there was disagreement between city administrators and Arnold over his handling of an arrest in March. The case involved two BAPD officers who arrested someone just inside the threshold of the home’s entrance during a felony domestic violence incident.
Later that month, Arnold sent an email to the police department with the subject line “Mindset and Culture Shift about Policy and Procedures.”
Arnold admitted in the email, which was obtained by KOTV and shared publicly, that the use of force and arrest conflicted with “OPS 120,” a department policy that governs searches, seizures and warrantless arrests. Arnold told his officers he was “fairly certain” most of them would have taken the same action.
Arnold reminded officers the department was transitioning to “Lexipol policies,” which are written and reviewed by attorneys and public safety experts who track changing state and federal laws, court rulings, and industry best practices. Arnold wrote that he felt current policies didn’t define how to do the job, but what is not permitted.
“So, was there a policy violation? Technically, yes. Does that mean the involved officers will be disciplined? No,” he wrote. “In this particular instance, our policy and our practice were not aligned. In other words, the finding will likely be a training failure. Who is responsible when our policy and practices don’t align, or when we have not provided the proper training to improve alignment? Ultimately, ME.”
But Arnold insisted that he wasn’t turning the department into one where officers don’t hold each other accountable.
“Further,” he wrote, “it means we will use logic to assess the problem-solving, decision-making and judgment of our members. And it means we start by suspending our judgment after the fact and giving our members the benefit of the doubt.”
City Manager Michael Spurgeon and other city administrators disagreed with Arnold’s stance on the city’s procedures.
On Oct. 14, the same day Arnold was put on paid leave and about 6 months after Arnold’s email, Spurgeon ordered Acting Police Chief Scott Bennett to send a memo to BAPD officers rescinding Arnold’s email and instructing officers to follow OPS 120.
Spurgeon told Bennett, according to an email obtained by KOTV, that the city could not leave Arnold’s message to officers unanswered.
“Every day the message stands unanswered it undermines OPS 120, leaves officers without clear guidance in situations where the line is bright and the consequences are serious, and it puts the city in the position of appearing to accept conduct its own written policy prohibits,” Spurgeon wrote.
Bennett’s directive said the current policy is binding to the department and rejected any suggestion that compliance with policies or the Fourth Amendment “is a technicality.”
But Garrett said Arnold never used the word “technicality” when he was talking about city policy, as City Manager Michael Spurgeon had suggested.
“After the review, the department retrained its officers on warrantless arrests and entries. The city’s legal department approved that training, and a city attorney attended,” Garrett said Monday, adding that the city’s directive rescinding Arnold’s email came 6 months after he wrote it.
Garrett said Arnold will attend his interview and answer the city’s questions, but noted the city has refused to provide more details about the allegations or the policies at issue. Garrett said the city also will not allow Arnold’s lawyer to attend.
“A fair process tells the person being investigated what he is answering for. We have asked the city to reconsider,” Garrett said. “Chief Arnold agrees that officers deserve clear direction on the Fourth Amendment. That is why he had them retrained. “Out of respect for the people involved, he will not discuss the arrest itself. He looks forward to a fair investigation and to getting back to work.”
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