The Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Sioux Falls Police Department should update its crime-analysis technology, be more accessible to the public and hire more minorities, an evaluation by a team of criminal justice experts said.
The 69-page report by the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety was done at the request of Sioux Falls Mayor Dave Munson. The agency is based in Spokane, Wash.
The report also praised the police department for its school resource program, its relationship with local businesses and its relationship with other law enforcement agencies.
Police Chief Doug Barthel said he was pleased with the report.
The report cited other areas where improvement was needed. For example, it said police training needs to be improved.
“Training beyond that provided by the academy for the average patrol officer is limited,” the report said.
Barthel said he plans to bring in experts to do more staff training.
The report also questioned the department’s method of dealing with 911 calls.
“The department should analyze the type of calls it responds to,” the report said. “The analysis should determine if the call is really a police problem or if it should be directed towards another type of agency.”
On that issue, Barthel said the department will continue the policy of responding to all calls until the volume of calls makes it impossible to do so.
“I think that is a great luxury we have,” Barthel said.
The report also calls for the department to use crime analysis.
“This capacity does not appear to be used by department members to address problems in the community,” the report said. “The department is not currently capable of producing crime maps and related factors in Geographic Information System software fashion.”
The review is not binding. And while many of the recommendations are within reach, “I don’t see this as a document we have to follow to a letter,” Barthel said.
Assistant Police Chief Patty Lyon said she was pleased with the report but wishes it had been done after changes in the department were implemented, including a five-year plan developed last fall.
“It would have been nice to have them come back and asses where we are now,” Lyon said. “I think that the report’s recommendations support what we are already doing as far as strategic planning.”
The reviewers spent a week in Sioux Falls in April. They interviewed police staff and residents.
Mayor Munson asked for the review after a report by the Sioux Falls Argus Leader raised questions about the department’s training, supervision and procedure for handing citizen complaints.