Lowell Attorney, Former Officer Caught on Tape
Alderman's FOIA Request Brings Issue to Light
Last updated Thursday, January 20, 2005 10:26 PM CST in News
By Rebecca Stills
The Morning News
LOWELL -- City Attorney Jenni Cook was to resign Dec. 31, and William "J.R." Cooper, an animal control officer, did resign after an "intimate" conversation between the two was recorded in November, according to city and county records.
The situation came to light after Alderwoman Mellisa Pool requested information regarding the practice of taping telephone conversations made to the Lowell Police Department.
Around Nov. 22, police Lt. Randy Harvey was routinely checking the department's logged calls when he discovered an "inappropriate telephone conversation" between Cook and Cooper, according to a Dec. 16 memo written by Police Chief Joe Landers to the Benton County Prosecutor's Office.
"The conversations revealed were unethical, immoral and unprofessional in manner," Landers wrote.
Mayor Phil Biggers and Landers decided Cooper would be allowed to resign Dec. 10, which he did, according to a letter in his personnel file. Cooper was hired in January as the city's first official animal control officer. No reference to the conversation was in Cooper's file, which was obtained under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
Cook, who was hired in June, was to be allowed to resign Dec. 31, but, as of Thursday, had not.
Biggers said he was unavailable Thursday for comment about the situation. Cook's personnel file was unavailable from City Hall, although requested by The Morning News under the FOIA.
Cook wouldn't comment Thursday night about whether she was asked to resign, but said she hasn't submitted a resignation letter.
Pool on Dec. 15 requested documents related to the city recording phone lines and copies of all recorded calls. She said she learned Cook had sent a Dec. 14 memo to Biggers and Landers advising them to stop recording phone conversations not dedicated specifically to the police department.
"As a concerned citizen, I wanted to get (recording) stopped," Pool said. "I've made phone calls and others have to city offices, and I don't think we should be recorded."
"I was really stunned to realize that people who called me had their voices recorded," Cook said Thursday of the practice.
Landers sought legal counsel from county Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green. Green said in a Jan. 14 statement the department has a legitimate reason for recording incoming calls to its main published number, 659-8888, and its two rollover lines -- 659-8976 and 659-5089, both of which are not published in recent phone books.
Calls made to those lines directly or calls made to the lines, then transferred to the fire department, court division or city attorney's office are recorded, Landers said.
The practice of recording phone calls began in July when the department instituted its own dispatching center, Landers said. Biggers said earlier this month calls to the city administration building are not recorded.
Cooper apparently made the phone call to a nonpublished, but recorded line, Green wrote in her memo. His call was then transferred Cook.
Told of the conversation, Biggers turned the matter over to Arkansas Municipal League lawyers before moving forward with disciplinary action, Landers wrote. The Municipal League in turn relayed information to Green.
According to Landers' memo, on Dec. 2 he interviewed Cooper, who "was untruthful and evasive," Landers wrote. Cook was likewise "untruthful," he said, until she was presented evidence.
Cook told Landers she and Cooper were "in love," but Cooper told Landers he wasn't sure where the relationship was going. Both are married to others.
Cook said Thursday she wouldn't comment about being "in love."
"My personal life is something I consider personal," she said.
The relationship began when Cooper, who also owns his own business called Coop's Canine Academy, went to Cook's home to train her dog, Landers wrote.
Cooper was contacted for comment Thursday afternoon, but told The Morning News he was at work in Kansas City and could not talk until later in the day. He did not answer later phone calls.
No criminal charges or lawsuits have been filed, Green said Thursday.
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