Retiring police chief reflects on his job

De Queen, Ark., Police Chief Richard McKinley, left, is shown. After nearly 30 years, McKinley is retiring as a law enforcement officer.
De Queen, Ark., Police Chief Richard McKinley, left, is shown. After nearly 30 years, McKinley is retiring as a law enforcement officer.

The law enforcement career of De Queen, Ark., Police Chief Richard McKinley has been a blend of tragedy and humor.

After nearly 30 years, McKinley is retiring as a law enforcement officer. In the last 18 years, he has served as the De Queen police chief.

During his tenure, his patrol car has been hit in the rear or sideswiped four times. Only one of the drivers who sideswiped or rear-ended the patrol car had a driver's license.

And De Queen officers found drugs in a box of doughnuts and confiscated the box, he also recalled.

McKinley remembered discovering the three children in a bed who had been smothered by their mother.

He and De Queen police worked with other law enforcement agencies during a high-speed chase to capture a suspect who had shot to death and beaten two women at Cornerstone Monuments-a business that sells gravestones.

McKinley will be honored today with a reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the community building in Herman Dierks Park in De Queen. The public is welcome and a presentation is planned.

De Queen Mayor Billy Ray McKelvy praised McKinley for his dedication to law enforcement.

"I want to congratulate Chief Richard McKinley on his retirement and wish him good luck in future endeavors," McKinley said. "He has a long record of public service to his community. He stepped in as police chief at a difficult time and has been a great leader for his department. I have encouraged new supervisors to observe Chief McKinley as a good example of what a leader and supervisor should be. Richard McKinley has been a great asset to the city of De Queen. For me, he has been a valuable team member, but also a trusted adviser and good friend."

McKinley stresses to his staff to remember that police work with people and it's not all about "slamming people in jail."

"I think of all the changes we've had, the most important is our closer ties with the community. I constantly remind our officers they serve and work for the people," McKinley said.

"It was important to get involved and show the public we are here for them. If there's one accomplishment I think has made a difference, it's showing the community we're here to help and we do more than slam people in jail," McKinley said. "If you run out of gas on the side of the road and one of my officers passes you but doesn't stop to help, I want to know about it."

The major change for police during his career has been technology.

"We have cameras, recording devices and computers," McKinley said. "When I started we had carbon paper. We had three pieces of carbon and four pieces of paper. This was before copy machines. Then we got computers.

"We had to use manual typewriters and type our reports if we made an arrest on a sheet of paper and have three to four carbon copies. We would send one copy to the prosecutor. We would keep a copy and send a copy to the state police. Now it's all on computer," McKinley said. "It's been a natural progression."

One of the chores for the police at the jail was answering alarms.

Police had to respond to four alarms connected to the jail, which included the airport, a jewelry store, a bank and the city's low water tank.

"If we were about to go out of water, an alarm would sound at the jail," he said. The officers would contact the water department.

The homicide of three young children was heartbreaking, McKinley said. The children's mother smothered the three children.

"It is impossible to describe what we found inside the house," he said. "This has to be the saddest crime that I have ever seen."

The weather added to the depressing crime scene of the three children lying in a bed side by side in a queen-size bed in the master bedroom.

Outside the home, cold rain dripped from the eaves of the house and the sky was darkened with a heavy overcast. A children's swing set was near the front door, according to news accounts regarding the location of the house.

"It was a triple homicide of three babies," McKinley said.

The children's mother, Paula Mendez, is currently serving life in prison without parole.

Any homicide is tragic, he said, but another macabre double murder was the shooting and beating deaths of two women.

The bodies of Mona Lee Shelton, the 46-year-old owner of Cornerstone Monuments in De Queen, and Donna Marie Cary, 45, a Gillham truck driver, were found on the floor of the business.

Both women were shot execution-style and had been beaten. Cary was a customer in Shelton's store.

Mickey David Thomas was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murder of the two women.

He remains in prison.

The Arkansas State Police, during the trial, described Thomas as a "spree killer."

McKinley's officers learned to be suspicious even if the potential evidence is where you wouldn't suspect it to be.

In 2006, officers answered a call about employees at a convenience store having problems with a customer being banned from the store. They arrived on scene and found drugs inside the car while the suspect held onto a box of fresh doughnuts.

One of the officers decided to look inside the box.

He discovered three plastic bags pushed inside. One bag was empty except for a white powder residue, but the second bag had methamphetamine and the third bag contained cocaine.

"I wonder what they were really looking for?" McKinley said jokingly while recalling the story.

Upcoming Events