The Associated Press
MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) -- Budget concerns are prompting some South Dakota small towns to eliminate or reduce their police forces and turn to county sheriffs for law enforcement.
Garretson residents on Tuesday approved keeping the town’s police department by a 71 to 29 percent margin.
The Salem City Council voted last month to cut its two-man police force to one officer.
“We had a (budget) shortfall, and we had to cut back someplace,” said Rod Schneider, a city councilman.
Schneider said he is confident in the McCook County sheriff’s ability to cover for the cutback in Salem. There are three officers in the sheriff’s department, and Schneider said there also is a highway patrol officer living in Salem.
Salem Police Chief Jim Lentsch disagrees with Schneider’s assessment.
“Right now it’s keeping two of us more than busy with what’s been going on,” Lentsch said. “If we cut back, I feel the public is going to be shorted as far as coverage is concerned.”
In Winner, officials discussed the possibility of creating one countywide law enforcement office. Both the city and Tripp County, however, wanted to keep their law enforcement agencies.
As a compromise, the two government entities are now working on a plan to combine all their area law-enforcement agencies in one building in Winner.
Doug Lake, retired director of the state Division of Criminal Investigation, has been retained to help with the project. He said initial plans call for a $2 million effort.
“Where countywide law enforcement seems to work best is where the county is less than 10,000 people and the county seat is the major community, with some communities that may or may not need some policing elsewhere in the county,” he said.
Lake also is working with officials in Bennett County and the city of Martin, where he is helping with a changeover from countywide law enforcement to separate agencies for the city and county.
Countywide law enforcement also is a topic in Hamlin County, where six towns are being asked if they want to provide money to go toward the hiring of a second deputy to patrol the county.
Castlewood and Estelline are the only two Hamlin County towns with their own police force. The other towns are Lake Norden, Bryant, Hayti and Hazel.
“It’s just getting to the point that two guys can’t get to every call that we get,” said Sheriff Dan Mack.
A 2001 study by the state Association of County Commissioners found that 73 towns were contracting with counties for law enforcement. Twenty-seven counties were providing law enforcement to cities.