I have often argued that training and leadership is lacking when it comes to law enforcement in Sioux Falls, not a lack of character, just a sense of direction;
What is needed is change within local police forces.
Note: I am not calling for anyone to lose their jobs. Generally speaking, most South Dakota law enforcement officers are nice people who want to help the community.
Our law enforcement agencies are using outdated an infective policing strategies. We need law enforcement agencies to step up and say we need to do something different. If they are unwilling to admit they have been failing us, then and only then, should we clean house.
If Sioux Falls and the state of South Dakota want to get serious about reducing violent crime, it would be wise to explore Hot Spots policing and/or Problem Orientated Policing (POP). These strategies focus on identifying specific problems and problem areas and figuring out the best way to address and eliminate the issue.
Couldn’t agree more. You hammer down on the problem areas in town. There also needs to be much more education about Domestic Violence, and how friends and relatives can see the signs of abuse and report them.
I think crime is manageable in Sioux Falls, and hasn’t gone to the place of no return, but we must hammer down on some new strategies, and SOON!
I think its a bit more to do with a new mentality creeping into on the force. Do you notice some cops seem to be a lot less approachable these days. A bit more disengaged with the social aspect and fixed on finding an enemy. Not all but some.
Case in point: I had to file a report for property at my business. First fellow was polite but seemed to be focused on filing a report and rolling out. I got a follow up visit from a sergeant that asked better questions about the neighborhood and had knowledge of the area.
It’s a tough job and it’s takes a special kind of person. I have several in my family. They tell me that some of this is based on hiring folks who have degrees and military experience rather than the actual personality of the candidate. Many of them don’t understand that respect may be earned with a badge and a gun, but respect can be quickly lost with actions and words.
Do your best to recognize you give what you get. It’s a job that deals with 95% people and 5% criminals. If you treat them as people first, they often tell you who is the criminal in the end.
Leadership and lack of direction seem inferior. Once they’re promoted to a top level, they hang out a few years and retire. There’s no time to change policy. Patrol cops dress scruffy. No pride for the uniform. In some cities, there’s an inspection before going on duty. I’d like to see walking cops downtown at night. It’s a chance to mingle and impress the public as well as settle issues before they become violent.
The motorcycle police impress me. They’re dressed well with shined leather. Their machines are well maintained. They’re presence in traffic represents security and professionalism.
The problem with this issue is that this issue does not allow the politicians to initially have a glorious ribbon cutting at the commencement of a new strategy to deal with this issue. And that is because the political leaders who are best positioned to deal with this issue are the ones who witnessed the spike in its growth to begin with under their leadership itself….. At best, if their new strategy were to be successful in fighting crime would equate to someone bragging about cleaning up the spilled milk, when actually they are the ones who spilled it to begin with…. So the issue offers no true utility to incumbent politicians. It merely illustrates their past failures….
Plus, fighting crime as long as you are politically popular or electable, is about as much fun as cleaning one’s room. It is always more fun to buy new furniture, build on to your home, or find a new home. Maintenance is boring, tedious, and unattractive and that is what fighting crime is, it is maintenance at best…. It is like plowing streets, ….No wonder they hate to plow our streets….
Also, politicians will always use diversions to justify the rise in crime under their leadership like drugs, population shifts, and or the economy, in order to politically distant themselves from the problem and any realistic solvency…. Or to say it better, it is always someone else’s fault as a scape goat…
Some politicians, however, have gain favor over the issue of crime over the years and have used it to their political advantage, I must admit. The first one that comes to my mind is Nixon and his “Law and Order” theme. Trump definitely latched on to that same theme as well in the last election, especially to the degree he had attached that theme to immigration policy and or domestic terrorism. Time will tell, however, with Trump, but with Nixon it was merely a campaign theme in time and place, and like Trump I will allege too, to get elected and I think for the most part that is the true shelf life of any anti crime theme for any politician, unfortunately.
Now, Clinton in the 1990s did politically benefit from a national collapse in crime during his presidency and he often credited his enactment of federal legislation to put 100,000 police on the streets throughout the country for greatly contributing to this trend. But I think the real reason that crime collapsed in the 1990s was because of the aging of the then dominant “Baby Boomer” population as well the significant strength of the economy under his leadership. (Plus, the collapsing trend actually began at the end of Bush41’s leadership.) – a reality that allowed Clinton to seize the moment or the issue of crime politically to his benefit, where he was the self proclaimed one who “cleaned up the milk,” but had not been present when it initially was spilled, which further embolden and assured him to accentuate the issue to begin with…. The same could also be said about Giuliani with New York City under his reign, too, I believe.
So it is the politics of crime or its limited utility for politicians, especially incumbents, that is at the heart of the problem in dealing with crime and especially rising crime. And until our political leaders are willing to go beyond its politics and accept responsibility in their own time absent a ribbon cutting, then I am afraid we will not find any true solvency for this issue in our town any time soon….
There’s been a rash of unjustified police beatings and shootings nationally. Sioux Falls police do not deserve this reputation. I wish they’d accept wearing body cameras. Not only does it provide evidence but it protects police from false accusations. Teens often wear hoodies and baggy pants. It’s fashion but it also indicates how police may treat you. Once an officer approaches, do not use foul language or Bro. A first impression both ways decides the exchange.
Sioux Falls is a middle size Midwest city. We have a loose atmosphere. Some police are bullies with overweight egos. What’s lacking with this police force is recognizing officers with character flaws. There’s no reprimand or termination process. They seem to lack social skills and situations sensitivity. A special 10 hour course could help. Perhaps, a silent method of cops reporting on cops. Good cops don’t like working with bad cops.
Daily – Every city department has a disciplinary and termination process, including the PD. You repeatedly saying otherwise does not make it true.