Pine Bluff Assistant Police Chief fired

PINE BLUFF, AR – Former Pine Bluff Assistant Police Chief Ivan Whitfield tells FOX16 that Pine Bluff Police Chief Brenda Davis Jones fired him Friday afternoon.

Whitfield had served as the Assistant Police Chief since January 2011.

The Police Chief put him on paid leave last week after detectives found his department-issued gun at a crime scene.

But Whitfield's attorney told said Tuesday the chief's move is a result of retaliation.  He said Jones put Whitfield on leave after he refused to tell her what officer saw her boyfriend driving her car.

Whitfield said the chief's secretary called him with the news.

“For the department that I love so much to treat me the way they did today is unbelievable,” Whitfield said. “It's like I had a nightmare."

Whitfield has been with the force for 29 years and is also a candidate for Jefferson County Judge.

No one from the chief's office returned our calls.