While Jolene Loetsher got beat up in the mayoral campaign over police precincts, I didn’t think the idea itself was bad. They are used across the state and in the 2nd largest city in SD, Rapid City.

Where the idea went off the tracks was putting the precincts in community centers. While Jolene argued the buildings already exist and could save us money by retrofitting them, I felt it was the wrong place.

I think the precincts should be put in the fire stations which are already safe zones and built like fortresses throughout the city. The other benefit would be while retrofitting the locations for precincts, you could add public ambulances to the fire stations and have the first responders under one roof.

If we are going to spend the money to get the Fire Department ALS (Advanced Life Support) trained, we might as well go whole hog and set a new public safety network. At the end of the day, it will help to reduce crime as well and make us a safer and healthier community.

What a concept?

23 Thoughts on “Should we tie Police Precincts in with Firestations and Public Ambulance?

  1. Rachel on May 26, 2018 at 5:39 pm said:

    Good idea👍

  2. Warren Phear on May 26, 2018 at 6:59 pm said:

    Jolene was drawn and quartered by the toolbox, the argus, and all other form of “media” for the precincting concept. This will come to pass, but not until it is the toolboxes idea.

  3. Absolutely not! If the current Mayor, the FOP, DWC, the Argus, and who else were all opposed to a precinct concept during the mayoral election, then I think we should just sit back to watch all of them now reduce crime in this town with merely “Leadership Teams” and charisma.

  4. SD Vet on May 26, 2018 at 8:46 pm said:

    Rapid City PD does not have them yet. They are exploring the possibility but acknowledged it is several years out.

  5. Jeff Barth on May 26, 2018 at 11:16 pm said:

    People should not have to queue for ambulances like they do now.

  6. Rufusx on May 27, 2018 at 9:14 am said:

    All emergency service under one roof – bad idea for resiliency. One place goes down – all services go down with it. Need separate locations – redundancy is a stronger plan. (For example -= why are commercial airplanes required to have at least 2 engines?) Think about it from some angle other to penny-pinching. I know it’s hard for poor folk to do – but…….

  7. l3wis on May 27, 2018 at 10:24 am said:

    Ruf, once again you had to try to come on here and prove me wrong.

    “All emergency service under one roof – bad idea for resiliency. One place goes down – all services go down with it.”

    You are right, that is why SF has 11 fire station locations. I think they thought ahead of time on this one.

  8. D@ily Spin on May 27, 2018 at 1:02 pm said:

    There should be more police presence. Perhaps the city is not yet big enough for precincts. Instead, how about police check-in punch clocks at appropriate times. What’s important is police patrol coverage such that there’s an immediate response. Days ago there was the explosions at the compressed gas company on the northwest side of town. I live near there and counted three explosions with a sky full of black smoke. It was at least 10 minutes before I heard the first siren. Protect and serve but do it sooner and not with 3 on duty police cars parked at McDonalds.

  9. D@ily Spin on May 27, 2018 at 1:11 pm said:

    Punch clocks at fire stations? Mandatory seconds mobile radio response? Body cameras? Uniform inspections before starting a shift? We don’t respect you when your uniform hasn’t been laundered in a week. On the other hand, I wish to compliment motorcycle police. They are often first on the scene with a shiny machine, starched uniform, and polished helmet/leather. Clothes make the man and we’ll respect you when you respect your profession.

  10. How about the cops quit having breakfast or lunch at the same time at Bagel Boy. Drive by sometime and you’ll see 4 police cruisers at one time. Poor supervision.

  11. SD Vet on May 27, 2018 at 6:36 pm said:

    Even better, how about the city hire cops who don’t need to eat? Or if they must eat maybe the city should make them bring their lunch? Anything to keep them from being visible out in the community and in the businesses that they patrol and serve. That must stop.

  12. Rufusx on May 27, 2018 at 7:23 pm said:

    And once again – any opinion different to your own is born out of animosity or foolishness of one sort or another.

  13. Maybe with the help of Lamont, the City and Bagel Boy could open up a few more bagel shops in town, which could also serve as precinct centers… Just think, I guy could pick up a bicycle license and a bagel to go….

  14. Rachel on May 28, 2018 at 1:03 am said:

    I think the way the popo conduct business in downtown is different then the way they conduct business in SE or SW Sioux Falls. It may be beneficial to have officers assigned to certain districts. I think having precincts in already established buildings is a solid idea.

  15. Rachel on May 28, 2018 at 1:06 am said:

    Totally off topic, but it’s been bothering me…Does it take three cop cars to ineregate 1 Native American man? Over and over

  16. Fluff McFluffin on May 28, 2018 at 8:13 am said:

    I just visited Omaha this weekend. I didn’t see one cop car. I also swung through Sioux City on the way back up, stopped in and saw some folks. I saw one cop car the whole time. I got back into Sioux Falls and saw cop cars all over the place. Maybe you should go out of town and compare what you see here to elsewhere. I think you’ll find visibility here is head and shoulders above the competition in some towns. But I do agree, we should find cops that don’t need to eat.

  17. Why is the SF police union opposed to police precincts?

  18. Reach out to some of the cities who tried this format and see why they’re not using it anymore.

    If they’ll admit it, you’ll find they had cops hanging out in the fire stations, napping in the firemen’s lazy boys, and spending less time on patrol.

    I hope someone does some actual research before we dump taxpayer money into this just to learn what other cities have tried and doesn’t work.

    Spend the money on more patrol officers and on raises instead if you want results.

  19. What about a precinct system which is constantly moving like food trucks or the MX missile program – to keep the criminals off guard. You never know where they are going to be, and if you can’t find them yourself as an outstanding citizen (Where’s a cop when you need one?), well, just go to Bagel Boy….It’s like 4th and Minnesota without a locker room….

  20. l3wis on May 28, 2018 at 3:36 pm said:

    A firefighter told one my foot soldiers this the other day;

    “he told me that the PD already has a desk in each fire station. They do stop in and get info, do some paperwork and leave evidence to be picked up later.”

  21. No wonder the establishment was against a precinct system in the last election….. They already have one…… Talk about declining a donut when you already have a baker’s dozen in the squad car….

  22. D@ily Spin on May 28, 2018 at 9:26 pm said:

    #20, so why can’t they clock in when they stop at precincts. It proves area saturation and duty performance.

  23. In this day and age, they should have Live GPS tracking so the supervisor could see where their units are at, so the clock in shouldn’t be needed. THey should be able to see locations real-time.

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