MOUNTAIN PINE, Ark. — The officers at the Mountain Pine Police Department don't want to be confined to what their job description states, they want to do more.
From food pantries to get-together, they are out to change the face of policing in Central Arkansas.
Their work is cut out for them because it all starts with trust.
Miguel Hernandez, the chief of police for Mountain Pine, gave this example: Before a baby jumps into a swimming pool, they have to feel safe first.
He said it's that type of trust the Mountain Pine Police hopes the community will give them.
Detective Ruey Hendrix said their department is full of people with big hearts who care about their community.
"We want to reach out to the community, help the community," he said.
Hendrix said the officers at the Mountain Pine Police Department are doing everything they can to prove to the public they're more than patrolmen and ticket writers.
"We can actually start helping people out here, instead of just being out here for all the bad stuff that happens," he said.
Only three months into his position, Hendrix quickly noticed problems in his community, but he wants something different for the town that he called "forgotten."
"I really feel like the people deserve what everybody else is getting," he said.
Hernandez told Hendrix they should try community policing again, but make it bigger and better.
Hernandez said it is something tried once before, two and a half years ago when he came into the job.
"It didn't kick off really well, but it's always been in our heart to be able to connect with the citizens of Mountain Pine," he said.
In the Mountain Pine Police Department, there is a huge brainstorm board of all the outreach programs the department is going to start implementing.
Hernandez said the root of this is to gain back that trust in their community.
"It's not just about the trust of people, it's also about bringing other amenities into this community so that they are able to flourish and able to survive," he said.
Hendrix said it's other amenities like having a food pantry, a hygiene closet, pulling people over for good driving and giving them gas cards, starting a teen hang out initiative and more.
"We have to find the means to fill that void and show these people that there is a chance," he said.
Hernandez said they want to prove that there is opportunity in Mountain Pine and that the men in blue are here to help.
"It's a small town but we are dreaming big," he said.
Chief Hernandez said when he first stepped into his position, his main goal was to get drugs off the streets.
Now that those numbers are trickling down, bringing the community back together is next on the list.