Transcripts

CATHERINE WINTER: The city of Bovey on Northern Minnesota's Iron Range has a couple bars, a gas station, and a cafe. Until recently, the town had two full-time police officers and a part timer, but police chief Terry Wilkey just retired. And the city is considering leaving his position vacant.

City council member Debbie Trboyevich says it's a matter of money. The city has decided not to fill several positions in the past few years. Trboyevich says Bovey is not in the red now and she wants to keep it that way.

DEBORAH TRBOYEVICH: We're just looking at the financial future. We have to put in our levees and whatever. And we don't know if we're going to get what we operated on last year or whatever. And everything's going up. I mean, the cost of everything naturally goes up year to year.

CATHERINE WINTER: Bovey's population has fallen from about 900 to about 640 people in the past decade. That means the city is collecting less property tax. And some Bovey residents say it means the city doesn't need two police officers anymore. Former police chief Terry Wilkey disagrees.

TERRY WILKEY: I'm retired now and I'm kind of out of it. But I still live here and I'm a taxpayer here. And I surely would be disappointed if they went down to less than two policemen.

They would see in a hurry that the criminal element finds that out in a hurry that there is only one policeman working 40 hours a week. And, believe me, they would know when they're working and when they're not. And it wouldn't take long before the havoc started and the trouble.

CATHERINE WINTER: Bovey isn't the only city trying to decide how much police protection it can afford. Many small towns used to rely on part-time police officers. But in the past few years, the number of part-time officers in Minnesota has been cut nearly in half.

That's partly because small towns are making cuts everywhere they can. And it's partly because new state regulations require that a full-time police officer have at least a two-year degree and that a part timer be supervised by someone who has a two-year degree. Nancy Larson is executive director of the Minnesota Association of small cities.

NANCY LARSON: In years past, they were able to use local people as police officers, and pay them fairly low wages, and have them work the times when they're needed, and then be on call. They can no longer do that. They have to have someone with at least a two-year degree right now to be a police chief. And that means that they have to pay somebody a higher salary and have them on full time. And they just aren't able to do that.

CATHERINE WINTER: Larson says some small towns are trying to band together to hire a police officer, but many are too far from other towns to have that option.

NANCY LARSON: The city of Belview a couple of years ago had a night watchman. But I know that there are some others that, it almost goes back to the old town constable days. But it's real tough not to have any way to defend yourself.

You don't have police powers when you're a night watchman so there's many things that you can't do. And you don't have a proper vehicle, those types of things. So all you're doing really is calling for assistance and hoping somebody is out there close enough to get there.

CATHERINE WINTER: A lot of small towns opt to do nothing. They rely on the local county sheriff for police protection. Usually, the sheriff doesn't get any more money or more staff to cover those towns. And it may take a while for a deputy to get from one end of the county to the other to respond to a call. Itasca County Sheriff Pat Medure says he hopes Bovey doesn't reduce its police force, leaving his office to deal with calls when Bovey's officer isn't working.

PAT MEDURE: We would respond, but the problem that we run into is the fact that how quick can we respond. If it's an emergency call, naturally we're going to be responding ASAP. But if it's a non-emergency call, we're going to be prioritizing with whatever else our deputies are involved in at that given point in time.

CATHERINE WINTER: Medure says his office is already handling an increasing number of calls. And he says there are advantages to having a small town police officer.

PAT MEDURE: You get to know the people in that area. You get to know the people that move in that area, that come and go. And it's more of a personal touch. And they get to know you.

CATHERINE WINTER: In Bovey, the question of how much police protection is enough has proved so controversial that the city council has decided not to decide. Instead, they'll put the issue on the November ballot and let residents of the town vote on whether one police officer is enough for Bovey. I'm Catherine Winter, Mainstreet Radio, Grand Rapids.