New University of Central Arkansas Police Chief John Merguie grew up in Jonesboro with a strong sense of patriotism, but his dilemma was how to channel that devotion into a career.
“Growing up, back in the ’70s and early ’80s, … every little boy wanted to be a policeman or fireman. I wanted to go into the military. It was the patriotic thing to do to serve my country,” Merguie said.
His mother was a second-grade teacher in the Nettleton School District, which he attended, and his father was an insurance adjuster.
“I didn’t do anything at school that didn’t get back to Mom by the end of the day,” Merguie said, laughing.
He took a pre-entry exam for the military and did well on it, he said. “Mom said, ‘If you go into the military, it’ll break your daddy’s heart.’” And probably her heart, too, Merguie said.
Instead, he went to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and majored in criminology. Merguie said the Jonesboro Police Department worked the parties on campus, and he started visiting with Officer Tom Sanford, who has since died. Talking to Sanford further piqued Merguie’s interest in law enforcement.
“I started hearing war stories,” Merguie said. He couldn’t wait to get into law enforcement, and as soon as he turned 21, Merguie was hired by the Newport Police Department.
“It was everything I thought it would be,” he said. “Granted, the equipment was nothing like we have today. You had a badge, bullets, handcuffs and a report form.”
There were no body cameras. His first purchase, upon the advice of the police chief, was to buy a microcassette recorder and put it in his shirt pocket to record interactions with suspects.
Merguie recalled that his first day on the job was Nov. 1, 1989, the day after Halloween. He was welcomed with a scene of smashed pumpkins, shaving cream and toilet paper littering the town, he said.
He stayed at the Newport department just over a year and met his wife, Lisa, while he was on duty. A student at the University of Central Arkansas, she was on spring break and locked her keys in her car at Walmart.
“She was mad that I was late getting there,” he said, laughing. He found out her name and asked her on a date. They had a long-distance relationship, which pulled him to Conway. He started working for the UCA Police Department on July 5, 1991.
Although he loved working at UCA, he wanted to move back “home,” so he left UCA in December 1994 to become a deputy for the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office in Jonesboro.
“Conway reminded me a lot of Jonesboro. The saying ‘you can’t go home again’ is true. Conway had become home,” he said.
After only about six months in Jonesboro, he called UCA Police Chief Larry James and told him he wanted to come back. Merguie was rehired at UCA in spring 1995, and he’s worked his way up the ranks since then. He also earned an Associate of Arts degree from UCA in August 2017.
“My goal, … I wanted to make things better for the new people — better equipment, better training, better salaries,” he said.
Merguie said he made about $12,500 his first year at UCA; his salary as chief is $95,000 a year.
When James retired in January 2017 after 23 years, Merguie was named interim chief. He later took his name out of consideration for the permanent position because he said the timing just didn’t seem right. Two finalists were named, but one withdrew. Merguie continued to serve as interim chief but decided the timing was right to step in. He was named chief in April.
Kelley Erstine, UCA’s chief of staff, said it worked out for the best.
“I believe, based on his long tenure at UCA, John has earned the reputation and confidence of the campus community in becoming our chief,” Erstine said. “He’s engaging, he’s professional, and he really has a deep sense of loyalty to UCA.”
Merguie said he does feel loyal to UCA, and being an officer is a full-time commitment.
“We’re here on Christmas; We’re here on Thanksgiving. We’re here at 2 in the morning,” he said.
Being a campus police officer is obviously different than being a city police officer, Merguie said, but it requires the same training. He said James was instrumental in changing UCA from a public-safety department to a police department in the early 1980s.
“My early days here, it amazed me that students just thought we were security guards,” he said. “That’s the thing we worked on over the years by interacting with students. … We would tell them, ‘We’re sworn police officers just like anybody else.’”
Because of the demographic on campus, there aren’t the domestic issues that a city department faces, he said, turning to knock on his wooden office desk. UCA reports are primarily thefts and vehicle accidents.
One aspect of being a university officer that Merguie enjoys is the time to solve crimes because the volume of cases isn’t as large as in a city police department or county agency.
“We can spend a little time on each case; we can follow it,” he said.
For example, a moped was stolen from a UCA student and recovered at a Conway middle school when a school resource officer Merguie communicated with recognized the moped.
“People work hard, and when they get something stolen, it crushes them. If we can get it back, it’s rewarding,” Merguie said. “Even our patrolmen — we give them the ability to follow things through, where it’s hard in the big metropolitan agency. If they have a lead, we let them run with it and investigate it.”
It’s not all stolen mopeds and fender benders on campus.
In 2008, two students, Ryan Henderson and Chavares Block, were shot and killed in a drive-by shooting on campus by a nonstudent. A third man, a nonstudent, was wounded. The shooter and his accomplices were all arrested by UCA officers shortly after the incident.
“That was a long couple of days,” Merguie said. “Even though I did not know Henderson or Block, because of my love for the community, it hurt. It hurt us all.”
Merguie said UCA is “very safe; it was safe then. We cannot control everything.”
That doesn’t mean the officers don’t try.
The Police Department sponsors self-defense classes, education and awareness, and a civil response to active shooters, even in the Conway community. Merguie said officers want students to know they’re available.
“If it’s late at night, we’ll escort you,” he said.
The officers are also trained for psychological situations and sexual-assault cases, and more training is planned, Merguie said.
He is coordinating with the UCA Counseling Center to conduct a class for officers.
“Maybe we can recognize somebody having an episode and de-escalate that instead of having a negative outcome, and get them the help that they need,” he said.
“Sexual-assault cases, … if we have one, we have one too many, but we have some officers who have had special training in investigating those and how to interview the victim and how not to revictimize them,” he said.
Merguie’s overriding goal as chief is to improve the department and make it relevant.
“This summer, we’re going to look at our vision, mission and value statement and rewrite it,” he said. “Unless you know your vision, mission and values, you don’t know where you’re going.”
Merguie said the statement hasn’t been tweaked for the approximately 27 years he’s been part of the UCA Police Department.
Another goal Merguie has is increasing the UCA officers’ service.
“We’re going to boost our community outreach,” Merguie said. He plans to get input from people on campus about how they want to be involved.
“I want everybody’s thoughts; they don’t have to be part of the department,” he said.
Merguie said UCA officers have an excellent relationship with the housing department. At one time, Merguie was the housing liaison, and he attended housing department meetings to get answers or resolve issues, he said. Now, another officer attends the meetings to hear concerns.
The chief also touted the Police Department’s positive relationship with the Student Government Association, which is the result of a concerted effort to keep the lines of communication open, he said. An officer attends all SGA meetings.
Then there’s the UCA administration.
“I love our [UCA] president, [Houston Davis],” Merguie said. “One thing he said is, ‘I love how y’all interact with the community.’”
Merguie said other than the officers’ training, building relationships on campus is of utmost importance.
The chief is active in several organizations, including as a member of the Arkansas Chiefs of Police Association and the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement.
He has a collection of law enforcement challenge coins in his office. He said a challenge coin is often associated with the military.
“If you did some outstanding thing, the commander would shake your hand and give you his coin,” Merguie said.
He picked up one, given to him by former Vice President Joe Biden at an International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference in Orlando, Florida. Merguie said he had a UCA Police Department challenge coin in his pocket, and as he waited in line to try to talk to Biden, he held up the coin. Merguie said Biden said to a member of the Secret Service, “Hey, you got a coin?” The man did, and Merguie exchanged his coin for the vice presidential coin.
“Biden said, ‘You know what this means?’” Merguie said. “I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ He said, ‘Good.’”
Another of Merguie’s favorite coins — from the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C. — was given to him by his sister and only sibling, Dana Aulgur of Russellville, when he first became a police officer.
Merguie said he is looking forward to serving UCA as long as possible.
“This [UCA] community — it keeps you young. I’d like to stay here. I love what I’m doing. I love to be able to interact with people,” he said. “Campus law enforcement is evolving. I don’t want to just get stagnant with my thoughts and theories. I want us to evolve.”
Merguie said if he hadn’t gone into law enforcement, he would have served in the military. He still believes he’s fulfilling his duty to his community and country.
And his parents, hearts intact, are proud.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.