BENTONVILLE (KFSM) -- A candidate for Benton County Sheriff said he would get rid of a special unit within the Benton County Sheriff's Office, but interim Sheriff Meyer Gilbert said he has already started making his own changes.
Independent sheriff candidate Glenn Latham said Benton County doesn't need the Special Operations Division (SOD), which has often done work in towns and cities around the county.
"When we're spending $747,000 on salaries for deputies who are working primarily inside in the city limits, that is shorting people who are out in the county," Latham said. "That's what those tax dollars are meant for."
Latham cited a recent letter from police chiefs in Rogers and Bentonville, which expressed concerns about deputy recklessness, has highlighted ineffectiveness of the SOD.
"I'm not saying that that wouldn't have taken place anyway, with other deputies or another unit, like the narcotics unit," Latham said. "But it's something that we can curtail and take out of the cities."
5NEWS was with Latham when he received an email from Sheriff Gilbert that stated the office is in the process of restructuring the SOD.
"When I send a request, all of a sudden it's been in the works for a month so it's just kind of odd to me," Latham said. "But definitely something that I think is a positive for the citizens of the county."
Sheriff Gilbert's email went on to say that the restructure will "greatly enhance our patrol capabilities in the unincorporated areas" around Benton County. The Bentonville Police Department said the change will have little to no effect on their operations.
"This specific change within the department won't have any effect on Bentonville's daily operations," said Gene Page, of the Bentonville Police Department. "There should not be any effect on the services that we provide for our citizens."
Sheriff Gilbert said in the email that the restructuring was based on a survey of crime data compiled over the last few years.
Latham will face Benton County chief deputy Shawn Holloway, who could not be reached for comment on Monday (July 11), during the sheriff's race in November.
Email from Sheriff Meyer Gilbert to Glenn Latham:
