The future of the Clarkfield Police Department appears to be in jeopardy after the most recent Clarkfield City Council meeting on August 16.
Council members thoroughly discussed an estimate from the Yellow Medicine County (YMC) Sheriff’s office detailing the cost of bringing Clarkfield solely under the jurisdiction of the county sheriff’s office. The councilmen also discussed the city’s current needs for law enforcement and the prudence of several other options that would not result in the city completely disbanding their police department.
Currently, Clarkfield employs two officers at a cost of roughly $135,500. The city also has a coverage contract with the city of Boyd, which pays Clarkfield $25,000 for police coverage.
The Yellow Medicine County Sheriff’s estimate to provide the city of Clarkfield with one officer was $84,572. That figure, explained City Administrator Kathy Kittelson, included initial cost, administrative fees and salary for one deputy to be based in Clarkfield and any call-time to be covered by the YMC Sheriff’s office.
Councilman Dave Biermaier questioned whether or not the city could continue to bear the cost of having full-time police coverage. “Can we afford 24/7 coverage anymore?” Asked Biermaier. “I don’t think so. That’s just my opinion... I’m just throwing it out there, so we can start thinking about it.”
The council also discussed the possibility of downsizing the department to just one officer. Yet, to maintain quality coverage, Kittelson stated that she believed the city would have to employ one full-time officer and one part-time officer. Another option discussed would include the city employing one officer while contracting with YMC to cover any possible call-time.
“I’ve been through this, when we’ve had county coverage, before.” Said Mayor Gene Kockelman. “And I guess it’s kind of the same problem we have now, one officer was stuck just patrolling in town while his buddies were off doing the exciting stuff. It’s hard, being a cop in a small town, that’s for sure. But then again, it’s the city that employs them.”
Across the country budgetary concerns have forced small towns to cut police services and rely on state and county agencies for their needed law enforcement. Yet, though budget concerns are a high priority and the city’s Local Government Aid status remains in flux, discussions among the council over the past two meetings have centered around the amount of time the Clarkfield officers spend outside the city limits; either answering other agencies requests for assistance, or engaging in what the council described as ‘coffee time’.
At the last city council meeting Clarkfield Police Chief Ian Hodge was asked to appear in front of the council to answer questions pertaining to the frequency of out-of-town travel following an issue where an officer took over 30 minutes to respond to a 911 call that reported vandalism in progress in Clarkfield.
Hodge provided several explanations of why officers might be out-of-town, chiefly among these was the need for officers from varying agencies to communicate.
The issue of too much ‘coffee time’ has been a long standing one, Kittelson assured the council. One that’s been discussed in council meetings for years. And one that might not be cured by eliminating, or contracting, the department.
