By Andrea Bruner, White River Now
While there was little action taken at Tuesday night’s Batesville City Council, aldermen did hear updates on police, parks, and other departments – including vandalism at the soccer field.
In his monthly report, Police Chief John Scarbrough noted that the police and fire departments are preparing for the upcoming Celebrate America annual event at Riverside Park.
He also said that Investigator Brenda Bittle continues to work with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, which is made up of state and local law enforcement agencies, to combat child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children.
“In 2024, the cyber tips for the state were about 8,000; in 2025, the tips were up to 15,000, and I would imagine 2026 is going to be more than that,” Scarbrough said. “So when she’s not dealing with property crimes and other things, she’s focused on (ICAC). But these cases are pretty emotionally draining for her and others – they’re pretty nasty.”
He said she is currently working on a case on the other side of the state. He also said he wanted to give credit to the BPD’s investigators for the amount of work they put in.
Mayor Rick Elumbaugh then asked about the vandalism at the soccer complex (see below), and Scarbrough said there was a camera up for a while, but it was moved for another case, and that was the timeframe when the vandals struck. Therefore, the parks department is looking into buying new cameras for the complex.
Elumbaugh said the vandals are using side-by-sides, four-wheelers or other vehicles to drive on the soccer fields and hitting garbage cans, benches and other things.
Scarbrough also mentioned that they are getting quotes to renovate some spaces at the police department to meet certain standards.
As far as monthly statistics, Scarbrough said there were 1,154 calls for service in May (compared to 1,108 in April, 1,288 in March, 917 calls in February and 919 in January; 181 citations (compared to 152 last month, 255 in March, 140 in February and 104 in January) and 180 warnings (167 in April, 254 in March, 153 in February and 149 in January).
Other statistics from last month: 82 accidents (82 in April, 39 accidents in March, 43 in February and 32 in January); 27 arrests (37 in April, 48 in both March and February and 22 in January); and 51 incident reports (65 in April, 67 in March, 72 in February and 46 in January).
Scarbrough said the BPD took part in the National Memorial Day Seatbelt Mobilization Campaign from May 18-23. Officers worked 60 hours, made 104 traffic stops, issued 60 warnings, and wrote 45 citations.
He also said the department deployed a taser for the first time during a foot pursuit, but unfortunately, it was ineffective.
He also said the BPD took part in a training last week with departments from larger cities, such as Little Rock, North Little Rock and Jonesboro, with explosive breaches into “houses” for different scenarios. Scarbrough said officers learned different tactics and other helpful tips.
One patrol shift completed a two-day building-clearing class. During the classroom portion of the training, officers reviewed the Fourth Amendment standards, he said, adding that lawful reasons to be in a structure include consents, warrants, and “exigent circumstances.”
Scarbrough mentioned dynamic vs. deliberate clearing tactics – focusing on High-Risk and Active Killer response – with the distinct operational protocols used for alarm calls and barricaded individuals.
He said all officers are scheduled to take this training, but due to keeping shifts covered, it will likely be a several-month process to get all officers through it.
In other business Tuesday night:
—Public Works Engineer Damon Johnson said the street department is working on Hawkins Street, where an old drainage structure is being replaced.
He said the boat dock is also being renovated with plans to finish before July 4, but crews are waiting for the White River to be less turbulent. “We don’t want to put it in just for it to get damaged or destroyed.”
He said that the river levels, rising and falling with recent rains, have delayed work on the new water treatment plant intake structure. “They’re doing as much work as they can on the structure as they can down there, but every time they get it dry and ready to go, then we have another one of these heavy rain events and the river jumps up for four or five feet.”
Johnson estimated crews have lost about a month of work due to weather, but he said the crews should be able to catch up eventually.
Meanwhile, work on the rest of the water plant is moving along well, with things pretty much on schedule. Soon, there will be demolition of the older components before new ones can be built.
He said the parks project is also going well, with few weather-related delays, fortunately. The splash pad and some other components will soon be built.
—The council approved an ordinance to amend the zoning code; the changes were accepted by the planning commission at its May 6 meeting. Elumbaugh said this was to “clean up” a few provisions.
Aldermen agreed to waive the second and third readings of the ordinance, which was then adopted.
—Kyle McMullin was reappointed to the planning and zoning commission; his term will expire in 2031.
—During the mayor’s comments, Elumbaugh said the community center’s AV system has been having ongoing issues, so the city bought four 85-inch TV monitors that were on sale for about $3,000 total, along with four wall mounts at $110 each.
The council approved transferring money from the community center’s perpetual maintenance fund to cover the purchases. The fund covers capital improvements and other facility upgrades (such as new exercise equipment and pool repairs).
Elumbaugh also said the indoor therapy pool has been having problems with the heating element, which ultimately needs to be replaced. He said the city is seeking bids on that, but that does mean the pool will be down for a time.
“That thing runs 24/7, seven days a week. So for the last 10 years, it has served its purpose,” Elumbaugh said.
All council members were present. There were no comments from citizens.
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