Four officers at the Little Rock Police Department were promoted on Friday morning, two of them Black officers who, with their simultaneous promotions to assistant chiefs, made history.
Police Chief Heath Helton presented the ceremony to a packed room of visitors, new recruits and current police staff at the department’s training center. Absent the stereotypical donut refreshments, a spread of Chick-fil-A breakfast was prepped in the back.
Though in different recruit classes, Maj. Andre Dyer and Maj. Troy Ellison both started with the LRPD in 1995. Nearly 30 years later, they will start as assistant chiefs tomorrow, March 25. Dyer will be over the patrol divisions and special operations, and Ellison will oversee the executive bureau.
Helton said that Dyer and Ellison are only the sixth and seventh Black chiefs in LRPD’s history.
“We’ve come a long way; we’ve got a long way to go,” Helton said. “So I’m very excited about these two men, what they’re going to bring to the table.”
The Little Rock branch of the NAACP sent out a release prior to the promotion ceremony.
The Little Rock NAACP says Police Chief Heath Helton’s recent decision to simultaneously promote two African American officers to the rank of assistant chief was an independently made impartial judgment.
Daniel Bowman, President of the civil rights organization said Helton’s actions demonstrate a balanced approach to identifying candidates who are eligible for promotions based on their qualifications and work performance.
Dyer, who was joined by his brother-and-sister-in-law during his promotion, thanked God and his mom for getting him to the place he was today. He said that his mother “stands about five feet tall on a good day” but gave him his “pitbull mentality, my will to work, my will to never give up.”
He also promised that residents would see a change.
“We’re gonna police these streets the way that all of us that have been here more than 15 years remember policing these streets,” Dyer said.
One of Ellison’s daughters, Shelby, secured his badge Friday. He said that he was born and raised in Little Rock and has chosen to raise his own family in the city.
“I’m deeply committed to the great quality of life that they [his family], and this community, deserve,” Ellison said.
In his new role, Ellison will be responsible for internal affairs, the officer wellness program, vehicles, the Real Time Crime Center and more. He said that he is confident in the leadership team to embrace and overcome challenges, welcome all suggestions, inputs and insight all while standing on the “principles of equality, inclusion and treating our citizens and officers with dignity and respect.”
Zachary Farley and Eric Hinsley were also promoted to the rank of Major on Friday.