Page 31 | Portraits in Steele 2020 He also noted that the department still handles its own calls, and for the most part heads up its own investigations — unless something severe like a shooting or death calls for resources from the county or the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Unlike other small departments, Skillestad also explained that Blooming Prairie never puts the county or another agency on call which would otherwise mean that, for a period of time, all incidents in the community would be referred directly to the sheriff’s office or another outside department. In addition to bringing state patrol and a number of traffic-related incidents to town, Blooming Prairie’s location along a busy freeway has contributed to another trend in recent years — an increase in the number of drug-related calls Skillestad said his department is encountering. “We’re seeing more and more calls because of the drugs that travel to every city — we’re not exempt. We’ve got Highway 218 that parallels Interstate 35 going north and south,” he explained.
‘We’re a small city, but we’re different’ Last year, Skillestad noted that the agency saw roughly 2,500 incidents. Lang said that this number has been stable for the past four or five years and is managed now by four full-time and five part-time officers. For a community the size of Blooming Prairie, both Lang and Skillestad noted this number was unusual — but Lang added that the town is also in a unique situation. “We’re a small city, but we’re different than a lot of small cities.We have a lot of industries. We’re a working community — people live here, they work here, they go to school here. A lot of small communities, they don’t have the school system, they don’t have the manufacturing infrastructure, they don’t have the jobs — they’re more bedroom communities,” he explained.
Blooming Prairie Police Officer Dan Peach assists 9-year-old Ashton Little in picking out a winter coat as part of the Salvation Army’s 2016 Shop with a Cop program. (Press file photo) “I’d been here 17 years or so, and had never had a Fourth of July off,” recalled Lang. “Greg and I were talking one day and he jokingly said, ‘Yeah, you can have the day off.’ I immediately booked an airline ticket to leave town, and I told him I was out of here and he was like, ‘Really? I was kind of kidding.’” “He deserved it!” laughed Skillestad.
With two schools in town, the chief added that the department also has a working relationship with the district. During the winter, he’ll frequently be on hand to help watch over late starts and, on a more personal level, will “We’re fortunate to be able to bring additional sometimes stop by to eat in the cafeteria. people on so we can cover our vacation and sick days,” added Skillestad. “People look at “We all have kids in school, so it’s not us as a small department and a small city, but uncommon for us to go to school and have some small cities only have one full-time officer lunch and sit with the kids at lunchtime,” and the rest are part-time.” added Lang. “Granted, it may be that we’re sitting with our own kid.” Again, the chief mentioned the freeway, adding that often, he’ll pull drivers over who “My boy says, ‘I’ll see you at home,’” laughed are commuting from the Twin Cities to Austin Skillestad, “so I’m talking to the other kids, or vice versa. Skillestad also noted that, for the having a cheeseburger.” town’s Independence Day celebration every summer, its population grows exponentially and his staff are all asked to be on duty. Attendance for the “Old Fashioned Fourth of July” typically brings between 20,000 and 30,000 people to town.
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