Arkansas State Trooper Still On Paid Duty, Patrolling

Why is this trooper still at work patrolling Arkansas highways and streets? 288 hours ago, he assaulted an 18-year-old Arkansas woman who cried for her mother on the ground.

A grown, armed Arkansas state trooper took her to the pavement and punched her in the face. If you are quiet, you are complicit.

And today the most troubling questions may be these:

Why is Trooper Moisses Arellano reportedly still on duty? So we empower physical assaults by law enforcement now? The state of Arkansas is silent; its complicity means that it is okay to curse out an unarmed, non-threatening, 18-year-old young lady subdued on the ground. Are "attitudes" against law and order, and will future violators be arrested in Arkansas? Does that depend on color or gender?

On August 1, 2026, Arkansas State Police Trooper Moisses Arellano stopped Alisa Hackett, 18, near Manila, Arkansas, after reporting that she was traveling 71 mph in a 60-mph zone. The encounter escalated from a traffic stop into an arrest. Police video shows Arellano taking Hackett to the ground and striking her in the face. His own use-of-force report acknowledges delivering a closed-fist strike to the left side of her face, which he said was intended to gain compliance.

Hackett can be heard crying, asking what she had done and repeatedly asking to call her mother.

After she protested that he could not punch her in the face, Arellano responded, “Said who?” He also threatened to strike her again if she did not turn over.

America, watch the video. This is not simply a Black issue. This is not merely a civil-rights issue.

This is a human-rights issue.

GOVERNOR SANDERS: WHERE ARE YOU?

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, this happened under the authority of the state of Arkansas. Why is this Arkansas State Trooper still on the job after physically assaulting a young woman unjustly in your state? You are the first woman governor of Arkansas. What is your official position on these actions? If you come up as a candidate for president or even run for re-election, this will come up again. Please respond to this statewide national alert, Madame Governor of Arkansas.

Attorney General Tim Griffin, Arkansas citizens have constitutional rights whether they are polite, frightened, argumentative, young, old, Black, Latino, Asian, Native American, Arab, or White.

Arkansas State Police Director Colonel Mike Hagar: This is now a test of leadership.

And Jim Hinkle, chairman of the Arkansas State Police Commission, along with Vice-Chairman Ken Reeves and the entire commission: Arkansans deserve more than institutional silence. A meeting will be called, and we invite you to come hear the people out.

Official state records identify Hagar as ASP director and Hinkle as chairman of the State Police Commission. Governor Sanders and Attorney General Griffin remain Arkansas's current governor and attorney general.

This administration should explain why a trooper whose own report admits punching an 18-year-old woman remains entrusted with state police authority while serious questions concerning his conduct are unresolved.

The NAACP has already called for an independent investigation, release of the unedited recordings, administrative leave for Arellano pending investigation, review of use-of-force practices and examination of racial disparities in ASP traffic stops.

Those demands are not anti-police.
They are pro-accountability.

WHO WAS THE OTHER TROOPER?

There is another question Arkansas State Police must answer.

Who was the other trooper Arellano consulted? This is public record and a freedom of information act is forthcoming.

Reporting and Arellano's account indicate that during the encounter he communicated with another trooper and learned Hackett had been stopped previously. According to Hackett's attorneys, that conversation helped influence Arellano's decision to arrest her rather than simply issue citations.

The public deserves the other officer's name.

Release the complete audio. Release the communications. Explain whether that officer was a peer, senior trooper or supervisor. Explain exactly what was said before Arellano changed the direction of this encounter.

I have not found a reliable public record identifying that second trooper. ASP should identify that officer rather than leaving journalists and citizens to speculate.

Accountability does not stop with the hand that threw the punch. It includes anyone whose instructions, encouragement, supervision, or failure to intervene contributed to an unconstitutional use of force—if the evidence establishes that contribution.

AN “ATTITUDE” IS NOT A CRIME

Hackett has now filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Arellano. Her complaint alleges that the trooper said he was going to “tune” her up because of her attitude. That is an allegation in active litigation, and Arellano is entitled to respond to it in court.

But if authenticated recordings establish that statement, it should disturb every American who drives a car.

Having an attitude is not a crime. Questioning police is not, by itself, justification for violence. An officer's bruised ego is not probable cause. And contempt for someone's tone is not a constitutional basis for punishment on the shoulder of an Arkansas highway.

The Supreme Court established in Rodriguez v. United States that police generally may not extend a completed traffic stop into an unrelated investigation without independent reasonable suspicion. Exactly how Rodriguez applies to Hackett's encounter will ultimately depend on the complete factual record, but her lawsuit raises serious Fourth Amendment questions that deserve judicial review—not institutional dismissal.

GOOD POLICING REQUIRES GOOD COPS TO SPEAK

Social-media commentator Marquez Miller, whose public Facebook post helped inspire this column, raised an uncomfortable point: What does silence from other law-enforcement professionals communicate when controversial force is captured on video?

That question matters nationally. I do not support attacking all law-enforcement officers. I do not believe every trooper, deputy, police officer, federal agent, or ranger is corrupt, yet too many are. But good law enforcement cannot demand public trust while refusing to confront bad policing within its own ranks.

Police officers tell communities: If you see something, say something.

The same rule must apply inside the squad room. A badge cannot become a fraternity shield.

THIS IS THE CANCER

America debates “defund the police” endlessly.

Perhaps we should spend more time discussing professionalizing the police and law enforcement. Raise hiring standards. Improve psychological screening. Train officers in de-escalation. Reward restraint rather than domination. Remove personnel who repeatedly demonstrate they cannot distinguish lawful authority from personal ego.

Law enforcement grants ordinary human beings extraordinary power: firearms, handcuffs, arrest authority, physical force, and the power to temporarily take away someone's freedom. That requires higher emotional intelligence, not lower standards. No officer should believe disrespect permits him to become violent. No 18-year-old daughter should have to cry for her mother or father while wondering whether the armed government employee on top of her is going to strike her again while cursing.

ACCOUNTABILITY STARTS AT THE TOP

Governor Sanders, Attorney General Griffin, Colonel Hagar and Chairman Hinkle:

Arkansas is watching. America is watching. Place the officer on unpaid administrative leave while an independent investigation occurs, not by the ASP. Identify the second trooper involved in the communications. Release the complete, unedited recordings. Review the use-of-force decision. Examine whether the arrest complied with constitutional requirements.

Make the findings public. And if policy permits what America watched on that recording, then investigate the policy too. Supporting police does not require supporting everything a police officer does. I have family members who served and were in law enforcement. I support law enforcement, but I don’t support corrupt, racist, sexist, or dishonest law enforcement on any level. Quite the opposite.

The quickest way to destroy respect for law enforcement is to teach citizens that a badge protects the officer more effectively than the Constitution protects the citizen. Alisa Hackett deserves due process. Trooper Arellano deserves due process.

And Arkansas citizens deserve something equally fundamental:

the truth. This is bigger than Arkansas. It is about whether America will be governed by the rule of law—or the rule of whoever happens to be wearing the badge.

Resource:
The same video footage and audio that have Americans traumatically and emotionally on edge. Let’s see and hear the entire video and audio. When you make beds like this, you may have to sleep in one. I will give a blanket of grace, Arkansas State Police. Grace is something that your troopers didn’t give to Ms. Hackett. Sleep tight.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmond W. Davis is a social historian, media strategist, professor, and documentary host. Davis is the founder of the National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest. A native of Philadelphia, PA, he, his wife, and his son currently live in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area. Davis is committed to cultural empowerment and educational equity through storytelling and civic engagement. In 2026, Davis was a grand marshal at the 38th Annual African American History Month Celebration Parade, the largest in the U.S. during Black History Month.

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