BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson filed motions to dismiss 20 cases involving a former Siloam Springs police officer who resigned in October during an internal investigation into his credibility.
According to Siloam Springs Police Chief Derek Spicer, after inappropriate conversations over social media between Michael Anderson—who was an officer at the time— and a confidential informant came to light, an internal investigation began.
Anderson resigned on Oct. 4, after the department heard from Robinson's office about issues in cases Anderson was involved in as an arresting officer, many of which were drug-related arrests.
"Issues were brought to light regarding discrepancies between reports and dashcam videos, which led to credibility issues regarding Anderson," Spicer said.
Robinson said that his office first heard about Anderson's indiscretions through the rumor mill.
"We actually started hearing about it through defense attorneys of criminal defendants that were involved, frankly, in the drug world, and the Siloam Springs area," he said.
"We know that it's a big deal to dismiss those cases. But I just really feel strongly that the more important thing is for the community to have trust in the system, trust in law enforcement, and trust in the prosecutor's office," Robinson added.
Robinson was only recently appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, replacing Nathan Smith at the end of October. But as a deputy prosecutor in the county since 2015, he said he couldn't recall a time when this many cases were dismissed due to losing confidence in an officer's credibility while on the job.
"I do think it's important to know that this is the exception, it is rare, especially in Benton County. It is highly uncommon for us to see something like this, which is a good thing," Robinson said. "And the Siloam Springs Police Department is full of really good officers and investigators that do a good job, work hard, and have integrity, which is why it makes it that much more important when something like this happens— we just call it what it is. We do the right thing, and then we move on."
Of the 20 defendants whose cases were dropped, many are still on probation or parole on previous charges and will still be supervised under those restrictions. For some defendants though, this has been the first and only case brought against them. "What I would hope is that they take this as a blessing. And they they get the help they need. And they turn things around if they have addiction issues, or they address that," Robinson said.
Spicer said Anderson was first hired at SSPD as an officer in August 2019. The department has recommended he be decertified through the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST).
As far as criminal liability, Robinson said he doesn't anticipate there being anything brought against Anderson.
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