Arkansas’s Largest County Welcomes New Sheriff
Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins has already gotten to work for Arkansas’s largest county. He comes into the office as the first African-American in the county’s history.
Higgins noted that he was taking on the role exactly 200 years after the Pulaski County sheriff’s office was formed.
The longtime lawman said he planned to change the agency’s approach to community policing. Instead of law enforcement deputies going into communities and telling residents what the agency needs from them, Higgins said, deputies should instead ask first what the residents need.
“That has to be our focus,” he said. “We are empowered by communities, so we must be focused on communities.”
He said he also plans to focus on re-entry and decreasing recidivism, especially among people who struggle with drug addiction and mental health issues.
Higgins is a retired assistant Little Rock police chief and a 30-year veteran of the Police Department. He became one of the department’s more visible officers through his participation in several crime-prevention programs and as a former liaison to the state Legislature.