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Rutledge Announces Speakers for Expanded Law Enforcement Summit
Fri, Aug 21, 2015LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced the slate of speakers for the 13th annual Arkansas Law Enforcement Summit, which will be Oct. 6 and 7. The event, to be held at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock, was established to offer free training and educational opportunities for Arkansas’s law enforcement community.
“The men and women who make up Arkansas’s law enforcement community are dedicated public servants,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “It is a privilege for me to be able to host them at a Law Enforcement Summit, which will allow for collaboration, instruction and networking among our officers to help them better serve their communities. I am also excited to welcome several top-notch presenters to our State for this important event. I encourage all members of law enforcement to register, and I look forward to welcoming them to the Summit.”
Rutledge announced in late July that the Summit will be, for the first time in the event’s history, expanded to two days.
Tuesday, Oct. 6 will highlight the Attorney General’s law enforcement initiatives to include metal theft prevention and cybercrimes forensics. Additional presentations will include a Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events instructor training and a session on law enforcement’s role in domestic violence.
The second day will feature nationally renowned presenters as well as the annual awards and recognition luncheon, which Rutledge will host.
Day two of the Summit will begin with Wichita Police Department Detective Tim Relph. Detective Relph was a lead investigator in the task force that arrested Dennis Rader, the man better known as the BTK killer, the serial killer who murdered 10 people in and around Wichita between 1974 and 1991. Relph will chronicle the timeline of events, tracking BTK’s history over three decades and will expound on the methods used to ultimately arrest Rader.
The day will continue with Capt. Ron Johnson, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Capt. Johnson was selected by Gov. Jay Nixon to coordinate law enforcement agencies amid the Ferguson Police response to protests following Michael Brown's death in 2014. After Johnson was appointed, highway patrol officers — wearing no SWAT gear — arrived in Ferguson less than a week after the shooting that prompted rioting. Cheers greeted Johnson when he told the crowd that he and his officers were "going to march with you."
The Summit will conclude with Lt. Brian Murphy, of the Oak Creek Police Department in Wisconsin. Lt. Murphy was the first officer on the scene on Aug. 5, 2012, after Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others at a Sikh temple. Page shot Murphy 15 times at close range. Remarkably, Murphy was discharged from the hospital less than three weeks later and eventually returned to full duty. He recently retired and was awarded the Medal of Valor by Vice President Joe Biden in February.
Registration for the Law Enforcement Summit is open and can be accessed at ArkansasAG.gov.
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Rutledge Joins with 14 Other States Asking Court to Stay the EPA’s Clean Power Plan
Fri, Aug 14, 2015LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced she has joined a coalition of 15 State Attorneys General in asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to issue an emergency stay that would postpone deadlines imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan while the plan’s legality is determined by the courts.
“Because of the deadlines and obligations included in the Clean Power Plan, Arkansas must begin to use money and resources to attempt to become compliant despite the rule having not been published in the Federal Register,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Arkansas should not have to move forward with the burdensome and costly regulations of the Clean Power Plan until the legality of the rule is determined. Unfortunately, the EPA has not published the rule yet preventing Arkansas and other States from challenging the rule on the merits. I’m confident the legal challenge will show the EPA has gone far beyond the scope intended by the Clean Air Act.”
Typically, a stay of a federal rule would not be sought until the lawsuit challenging it is filed, which would usually occur once the rule is published in the Federal Register. In most cases, the obligations imposed by a new rule are tied to the date of publication.
However, in this case, the Attorneys General argue, the EPA has made the unusual choice to make the States’ obligations effective immediately. Regardless of the date of formal publication, the States already have firm deadlines to submit initial and final compliance plans under the rule. Because it could be months before the 1,560-page rule is published, the Attorneys General believe court precedent makes clear that a request for a stay at this time is appropriate in order to prevent States from having to expend significant taxpayer resources to begin complying with the rule.
Earlier this month, Rutledge asked the EPA for an administrative stay of the Clean Power Plan while its legality was reviewed by the courts. The EPA responded saying it would take the request “under consideration,” but the agency has yet to act on that request.
Rutledge was joined in petition by the States of Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
A copy of the petition is available here.