Growing up as the son of a sheriff’s deputy, Greg Meharg can’t remember a time when he didn’t want to be in law enforcement. But while he achieved that goal, he never thought it would land him back in high school, let alone win him any awards.
As it turned out, both of those things came to fruition. For the past 20 years, Meharg’s duty station has been public schools, where as a school resource officer, he’s had the chance to influence hundreds of young people during their formative years and beyond.
He was named the Beebe Police Department’s Police Officer of the Year for 2019, an award he called the biggest surprise of his career, which is saying something, given that he’s in a job where he has to be ready for just about anything.
“It was very, very unexpected,” said Meharg, 50. “I had no clue. To be honest with you, many SROs are still [not recognized that much]. … A lot of times, we’re out of sight, out of mind.”
“Many resource officers can tell you, when you’re recognized within your department and within your city, especially as Officer of the Year, that’s great. I mean, I was just on cloud nine. I just couldn’t believe it.”
“Officer Gregory Meharg was recognized as Police Officer of the Year for 2019 for his commitment and dedication to the citizens of Beebe through his service and protection of the students and staff at the Beebe Public Schools,” said Capt. Steven Hall of the Beebe Police Department.
“Officer Meharg’s professionalism and personality have been advantageous for his position as school resource officer these past five years,” Hall said. “He is continually seeking ways to improve as a school resource officer and has participated in numerous advanced training classes so he can better protect our most precious and vulnerable citizens.
“Over his tenure, Meharg has demonstrated time and time again his devotion to making a difference in the lives of the young people in our community and is a valued member of the Beebe Police Department.”
A native of Judsonia, Meharg took his first SRO job at Riverview High School in Searcy, a post he held for 11 years. After a short break, he applied for and landed his current gig at Beebe, where he and another officer ride herd over 3,300 K-12 students, divided between the main campus and a middle school campus in McCrae. Meharg’s is a job that extends not only before and after school, but to athletics and other extracurricular functions.
“We’re out here every morning in pouring-down rain, sleet, whatever, or weather of 100 degrees. We’re directing traffic every morning, getting the kids safely across the street,” he said. “It’s the same thing in the afternoon. We’re out there. We’re in every building every day. We work probably more hours than anybody by the time we have ballgames. We’re easily working over 50 hours a week.”
Meharg’s career began at a pivotal point in the American consciousness. The three years leading up to his first assignment saw a spate of mass school shootings that, while not the first in history, received unprecedented media attention, including the 1998 incident in Jonesboro and the 1999 Columbine massacre. With that, what had been seen as relatively light duty was suddenly very serious business, Meharg said.
“When I started doing this, at first, we were called kiddie cops,” he said, “but at the same time, nobody else wanted to do it.”
That period touched off a new era of training and operation protocols for SROs. With each subsequent incident nationwide, Meharg said, officials took the opportunity to re-examine safety protocols.
“Usually once a year, we bring in the Beebe P.D. and the White County Sheriff’s Office and do a drill in one of the buildings, do an active-shooter situation,” he said. “Our safety director here is putting on things for our teachers all the time. This school district is real great — if they see somebody they don’t know, they call us, and we’ll go out and see who it is and question them.
“We’re getting better every year on our protocol about security. This is a great school district. Its No. 1 concern is safety. Our doors, we have an automatic lockdown system. With the push of a button, every door on campus will lock immediately. Only four or five of us — administration, me and another officer — have the ability to get in the doors.”
Emergency response aside, Meharg also has special training when it comes to interacting effectively with students. This has allowed him to develop keen communication skills, which are his primary tools in de-escalating situations.
“Ages 4 through 9 are just lots of talking, negotiating. You sit and talk with them and tell them how wrong the things they were doing were, and most times, it comes out OK,” he said. “Ages 10 to 14 are a whole different age group, but again, I would say communication is 90 percent. I try everything possible to go in with a good attitude, a calm attitude.
“Then there’s times when you have to verbally let them know you’re in charge and what they’re doing is wrong: ‘You’re going to stop, and you’re going to stop now.’ I’ve actually had to lay my hands on, I think, three kids this year, which is the most in one year that I’ve ever had to do, and I don’t like that.”
Meharg carries both a sidearm and a Taser at work, but he said that has less to do with kids than with another important constituency he deals with regularly.
“We carry, but we carry mainly in case a parent or somebody wants to get physical,” he said. “We’ve had some who got belligerent with us. But you say, ‘You can get in your car and leave, or you can get in my car, and we’ll leave,’ and usually after you say that, they choose theirs.”
Meharg’s calm presence and expertise in handling juveniles helps enhance the learning environment for all, said Karla Tarkington, Beebe High School principal.
“He’s just very laid-back,” she said. “He doesn’t get rattled very easily, which is a good thing because sometimes you’ve got kids who are highly emotional in the moment, and sometimes it just takes somebody very calm to speak reasonably with them. He’s just really good with that.
“He’s a great deterrent for our kids, as far as just knowing that he’s there. Also, I think it’s a deal where they feel safe. They see him there, and it gives everybody, the staff and the students, a sense of, ‘He’s here, so we’re good.’”
Asked how he sees his role, Meharg said he considers himself less of a warden and more like a resource for students. He’s got plenty of examples to back up that assessment.
“I probably get to see more good things, being a resource officer, than most people because of seeing the kids here and their accomplishments. A lot of times, you get to be a part of that. It’s great,” Meharg said. “When I was at Riverview, I was there 11 years, and I got to see kids from the time they were in kindergarten until they graduated. I had several who told me they were interested in law enforcement because of me and went on to be in law enforcement. We have several here the same way.
“A youngster has to find somebody they trust, and the SROs are beginning to be that way. We’re around [the students] every day. They see us every day. Then once you start speaking with them and talking to them, they know who you are, and they gain that trust. In fact, over the years, I’ve had a lot of them call me ‘Daddy.’ In my opinion, that’s an honor because they think of you that much that they call you ‘Dad’ or something like that.”
“Everything I’ve ever done in my life, as far as this job, is try to be a positive influence. The day that I’m not a positive influence, it’s time for me to get out.”