BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) -- Since becoming interim sheriff of Benton County, Meyer Gilbert has said his main focus is to patch holes in the community he and his office serve.
"We are definitely trying to fix something," he said Tuesday (Sept. 27) during a Coffee With A Cop event at Beaver Lake Fire Station. "We are trying to be more community-oriented while working with the citizens and not just answering the calls and giving tickets and making arrests."
Gilbert announced the sheriff's office plans to build a substation at the Beaver Lake Fire Station to have a bigger presence in the area.
"This would give the deputy who is assigned this area a place he could come and a place the public will know they can meet [the deputy] here without having to go all the way to the sheriff’s office," Gilbert said.
Joshua Allen, president of the Beaver Shores Owners Association, said he welcomes the idea.
"It would be a gigantic win not only for our community here, but for the entire Prairie Creek community, the lake community and the county," he said. "Hopefully we never need them, but if we ever do, we know they are just right around the corner."
Gilbert said this is another piece of a much bigger plan to better serve the community.
"Just like [changing] the uniforms, just like [repainting] the cars, this is just another step in our future goals to get our deputies more community-oriented," he said.