Sheriff Meeks Gives Update, Reviews Plan For Lake Patrol

Randy Meeks reviewed plans and gave an overview of his first 100 days as the Hunt County Sheriff at a meeting Friday of the Lake Tawakoni Regional Chamber of Commerce. One of those plans was for a lake patrol.

He said he hopes to have a lake patrol up and running by July 4. The sheriff said he had to have someone trained to conduct the boat patrols on a periodic basis. He said he was aware of crimes including burglaries that had been committed from boats.

He said the economy had set his office back on plans to open a substation in south Hunt County, but the office was still in the works. In the meantime he said the deputies worked out of an office at the courthouse annex in Quinlan.

Meeks said he put together a plan that had four pieces in approaching the crime problems in Hunt County. He was elected for a first term last year and took office Jan. 1.

He said the first piece of the puzzle was a leadership team. He said he surrounded himself with top-notch people as first and major key to his approach.

The second piece of the puzzle, he said, were the employees of the sheriff’s office. Meeks said he knew there was a morale problem and that he had to bring accountability to the office when he began the term.

The third piece was the community; and the fourth and final piece was the commissioners court that he said had been very cooperative with his office.

"Not one person can do it alone. We can do it together," Meeks said.

The sheriff said he developed 20 specific goals to be achieved during his tenure in office. He said he posted them to the entrance of the sheriff’s office because he wanted the people to know he would stand behind the promises he made during his campaign. The first three included "live your life by high morals; work hard without complaint; and be loyal to the sheriff and leadership team."

Some of the activities in which the office is currently involved includes seven unsolved murders that date back as far as the 1970s. "I don’t know if we’ll solve them, but we’ll do our best," he said.

Meeks said he had initiated a program called "Friends of the Sheriff." He keeps a list of citizens who gave their email address or cell phone numbers by which he can send email and text messages when there was an immediate need to locate a suspect or other information.

"Now we have 1,003 sets of eyes looking for suspects," he said of the plan that he said had already proven itself. He gave examples of the use of apprehending a suspect that still had a knife taken in a burglary and the alert of a recent tornado in the county.

The sheriff said he also sends out tips on the network. "All of us working together can make this a safe place," he said.

Chamber Executive Director Cindy Johnson said the chamber was "growing by leaps and bounds." She said the next meeting would be a luncheon on June 18 at Big D’s Steak and Barbecue in West Tawakoni.