K-9 units

Yes they will.

On a lighter note...

Much has been written and said about the police/law enforcement situation in Belgrade and Brooten in recent weeks / months.

I've said it to many people in person but wasn't sure if I had done so in print, etc. While I'd much, much rather we in Brooten have our own police department, in the mean time I find it a very good thing that we have coverage from members of the Paynesville Police Department who are also staff members of the Belgrade P.D. What was forgotten that was printed in the Jan. 15 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice was that officers from the Paynesville P.D. were hired by the Belgrade P.D. They are employees in Belgrade, not contracted workers. They are hard-working men and women who take their jobs in law enforcement very seriously and put their lives on the line every day they suit up whether that's in Paynesville, Belgrade or Brooten. Let's not lose sight of that even as we move heaven and earth to get something positive going in the city of Brooten.

For now, I am thankful that we have this arrangement going with Paynesville. It beats Stearns County any day. (No offense to Sheriff Sanner's officers either...but we all know that we do not want Stearns County providing all of our police coverage in Brooten!)

##truth

Mistake

An incorrect dollar amount was reported at Monday night's Brooten city council meeting as the estimated cost for a police department. The number $110,000 was given, which is way off. There's no way it will cost $85,000 for a one-man force. In fact, after follow up I learned that the $110,000 figure was given from the city of Atwater as an attempt to illustrate how much a PD costs. Fact: in Atwater they have three on their PD staff with 60 hours a week of coverage.

I have other issues with what was said on Monday night in Brooten at January's final regular council meeting. I will address them at a later time.

Gotta admit: it seems like a full-time job keeping track of what goes on with our local government in Belgrade and Brooten! On Brooten's end, I completely understand that it will require extra work for all of us in re-establishing a police department. What are we afraid of? What some have forgotten are two very important facts: 1.) Brooten has had an independent police department in the past, as recently as 2006. 2.) Belgrade currently has a department, although I am wondering if it will dissolve due to lack of applicants for their open police chief position.

We know Belgrade's 2015 budget is $127K. Of that, $81K is earmarked for salaries. There's no possible way that Brooten could spend the difference ($46K) on the other annual costs of a department when Brooten's would be a strictly one-person department and Belgrade's is a two-person department. News flash: of that $46K, Belgrade has budgeted $6,500 for gasoline. It makes sense as their Chevy Tahoe does a whole lot of driving between Belgrade and Brooten. Last I checked, a one-person police department in Brooten would not have the police car making multiple trips between Brooten and Belgrade each week. The Brooten police car will not burn $6,500 a year on gasoline. That is one of multiple examples of how the cost of a Brooten police department will not be as high as the Belgrade police department.

##simpleconcepts