Recently, Mike McGough saw a woman in need on the Hillsboro viaduct. “She was problematic, jumping out at cars,” he said.
He contacted a deputy to take her to the E.R., he said, and once she received her medicine, she was fine. A simple, but effective act of knowing that she needed help, not a jail cell, is an example of McGough’s patient, altruistic character.
“Being sheriff of Union County, was the best job I ever had. And my only regret after six years, is that I couldn’t help everybody.”
But, that came with the job. McGough knew that.
He’s had a hand in law enforcement all his life. As a child he watched and learned from his father, a former El Dorado Police officer, and the stories they shared. McGough said he remembered going to work with his father and getting to know all the guys at the station. Listening to what they went through day in, day out, he gained respect and a sparked interest for law-enforcement. This spark led McGough all over the world — from his time in Paris with the U.S. Marine Corps, to Los Angeles with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and most recently, back home, as the Union County Sheriff for the past six years.
Now, Union County Sheriff Ricky Roberts has the job of continuing where McGough left off.
“Adversity is our business,” McGough said. “I built on what Sheriff Jones did, and then Sheriff Roberts is going to build upon what I did.”
Sheriff Ricky Roberts agreed to run for Union County Sheriff last year after talking with McGough and Chief Deputy Bill Hickman. Roberts said he didn’t want to run if they wanted to continue on as the sheriff, because he had immense respect for both men. After receiving their blessing, he hit the ground running.
Running against former sheriff Ken Jones, was not easy, he said. However, in March, Roberts won the majority vote by roughly 66 percent.
Beginning at 21, he said he wanted to be a fireman. After applying and passing the fire department test in Pine Bluff, he didn’t get the job. But he did take the qualifying tests to make it on as a patrolman for Pine Bluff Police Department, and after a few months his character was tested when an officer he worked with was shot on duty.
In the spring of 1985, Roberts said a motorcycle officer he worked with pulled up to a reported noise complaint, and on site, the owner of the residence shot and killed the officer. After seeing the negative repercussions of the job, it was that moment he had to consider if law-enforcement was the right path for him.
Twenty-eight years later, he tried retiring, which lasted two weeks.
He said, the first week he went on vacation, the second week he worked around the house, and by the third week he began working as an investigator for the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Two weeks since taking office as Union County sheriff this year, he said his time has been “fast and furious.”
Since the late ‘80s, Roberts has worked in El Dorado and has made it a second home to Rison, Ark. He has seen the positive community, and the recurring problems facing the city and the county. He said he is humbled and ready to make changes he has always wanted to make, since working as a patrolman in Pine Bluff.
Currently, Roberts said he is looking at updating the deputy uniforms for the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
“We need a workable uniform,” he said. “I might be in the city, then next thing I know I’m in the thick of the woods. Officers need uniforms that are versatile.”
Also, Roberts is overseeing the annual budget and looking into everyday expenses for how the Union County Sheriff’s Office can cut back on spending. He has even made personnel changes, moving deputies around to get the most out of them.
“Lazy is not in my vocabulary,” Roberts said.
He is aware of the role the sheriff’s office has with the community. People don’t visit the office because they want to say “hey, have a good day. No, they are there because they’ve got a life crisis,” he said.
With a prison capacity of 213, the Union County Sheriff’s Office isn’t only responsible for the inmates, but for their inmates’ families too.
Last week, Roberts threw out the phone system’s “calling tree” to make communication clear and direct between the office and the public.
More times than not callers are transferred to the wrong person, so instead of listening to a directory message system, there is a person on the line waiting to answer phone calls.
“Like I say, we keep tweaking until we get it tweaked right,” he said.
Like McGough, Roberts has seen how the drug problem has persisted in El Dorado, and that crimes like burglary, breaking and entering, and assault charges, all have stemmed from drugs. It’s not a problem that can be wished away, he said.
“Every county has its issue with drugs,” he said. “If we can get them to rehab, we can dry up the drug problem.”
Working with the Union County District Court Judge Jack Barker, Roberts said he wanted people needing help to have access to rehabilitation programs. Also, he would like to enforce warrants for people who aren’t paying their court fines, and if money is an issue, assign them to public service; but if necessary send them to prison.
“It’s not about jailing a bunch of people, but about holding people accountable for their actions,” Richards said.
In the news, shootings seem to happen daily and some police officers harm people when they don’t need to, he said. The public’s perception is reflected on the local authorities, even when the incident has happened in another region of the country.
Roberts most important qualification for officers isn’t dependent on how much training one candidate has over another, but whether he or she has a good attitude.
“I’ve prided myself as saying ‘I’m going to put the best person in the uniform’ and then we train relentlessly.”
During his six-year tenure, McGough improved the weapons and technology used by the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and also strengthened the working relationships between all the law enforcement agencies in and around Union County, he said.
The job of the sheriff is to be the head for the county, McGough said, for the public, for the media, and for the staff serving in law-enforcement. He said he is proud that he maintained solid working relationships with the El Dorado Police Department, Arkansas State Police, Smackover Police Department, Arkansas Beverage Control, El Dorado Game and Fish, the Union County Search and Rescue teams, and his own Union County Sheriff’s Office, to name a few.
“That was important to me that all agencies work together, and share intelligence, and share man-power and benefit the communities. Cause when we pull against each other the only people who really suffer is the public.”
Looking to McGough’s model for guidance, Roberts is making changes, and it’s been two weeks. He said he doesn’t know if he will serve only one term, but he is optimistic and learning with each day.
“Every sheriff that goes into the job has goals in mind and has the intentions to make the department better,” McGough said. “One thing I found out is no matter how long you’re there or what goals you have, how much time you’re there, a sheriff’s job is never done. There’s always going to be something.”
Nathan Owens is a staff writer for the El Dorado News-Times and can be contacted via email: [email protected].