Western SD law enforcement prep for population growth - KELOLAND.com
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — With the population on the rise in Western South Dakota, cities, schools and law enforcement are preparing for even more people.
A lot of projects are underway in Box Elder.
From apartment buildings and houses to workout facilities and health clinics, the town is gearing up for thousands more people.
“The challenges are global to everybody, they are not just related to law enforcement. They are the entire city, they are the entire county and everyone around us is feeling the same pressure to plan and prepare and be ready for it,” Chief Jason Dubbs, Box Elder Police Dept., said.
Police Chief Jason Dubbs says Box Elder has been seeing more 9-1-1 calls each year.
“For at least the past three years. We’ve seen pretty significant growth in population. We’ve seen an increase in the calls for service, an increase in cases, and certainly arrests and things like that,” Chief Dubbs said.
Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom says with more people in the area comes more calls to service.
“It’s two fold, you got the permanent growth moving in because we have become a popular spot. You got growth with Ellsworth Airforce Base with the new mission and the seasonal traffic with tourism. So we are planning, we’re preparing, we’re strategically going to tackle this as we move forward for the next three, four, five, six years,” Sheriff Thom said.
Sheriff Thom and Chief Dubbs both say this could mean more staff, more equipment, and more funding.
“I think the growth for South Dakota is exciting. We are well positioned to deal with it as it happens, but there is a lot of planning that goes into that,” Sheriff Thom said.
Both the Pennington County Sheriff and Box Elder Chief of Police say interagency cooperation also plays a role when dealing with high call volumes.
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CONNECTING...source: https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/western-sd-law-enforcement-prep-for-population-growth/
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