3-person panel backs firing of PB detective

Editor’s note: The graphic subject matter of this story may not be suitable for all readers.

A three-person panel upheld the termination of a Pine Bluff police detective who was fired for committing lewd acts toward a woman at the Saracen Casino, the interim police chief confirmed Tuesday.

Chief Lloyd Franklin Sr. fired Christopher Sweeny on Nov. 2 after video evidence reportedly showed Sweeny pulling down a female bartender’s blouse and licking her breasts while off-duty at a bar on Sept. 8. Sweeny admitted to the act and apologized for it during an appeal hearing in front of a city personnel review committee Nov. 19.

Sweeny said during the hearing that the firing “was extreme,” adding that he didn’t feel that the “crime” fit the punishment. He was also accused of committing sexual acts with a woman inside a men’s restroom at the casino, but Pine Bluff assistant city attorney Dominique Lane, who headed the three-person panel, said those claims – which Sweeny denied – were not founded because there was no definitive proof.

Franklin testified at the hearing that “not a lot” of what reportedly happened in the bathroom went into his deci

sion to terminate Sweeny. Mainly the lewd acts at the bar were his focus, he said.

Franklin was unsure of how many panelists voted to uphold the firing. The Commercial filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Police Department for documents related to Sweeny’s termination and hearing.

Sweeny had served on the Pine Bluff police force for eight years, according to testimony.

Sweeny testified that the act toward the bartender was consensual, adding: “It wasn’t like she said pull her breasts down and lick her. … That didn’t happen. We were all partying. We were all having a good time. Like she said, she recorded on Snapchat the whole thing, the incident. So, it was just us partying too far.”

Sweeny answered in the affirmative when asked if drinking may have contributed to a lack of judgment.

Franklin told panelists that Sweeny – who had been suspended for previous offenses — would appear before them on another violation if his firing was overturned.

“The majority of the Pine Bluff Police Department are excellent officers,” Franklin said. “They do hard work.”

When Franklin was asked during the hearing if he considered Sweeny an excellent officer, Franklin said: “No, I do not.”