County No Longer Holds Poplar Law Enforcement Contract, Remote Areas May Get More Coverage
Although the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office no longer is the contracted entity for law enforcement in Poplar, the sheriff’s office still will serve that community as well as the entire county.
Roosevelt County Undersheriff John Summers said it was agreed to not renew the contract between the sheriff’s office and the city of Poplar. The sheriff’s office has worked under a contract with Poplar since about 2014. The Fort Peck Tribal Police has taken over the contract.
“We’re still taking calls,” Summers said.
He noted that almost everyone in the sheriff’s office is cross-deputized for both the sheriff’s office and tribes.
“Ultimately, the tribal police are responsible for the people and we are too,” Summers explained. “The sheriff’s office is responsible for all the residents of Roosevelt County.”
Summers said that Poplar had a city police force for many years until deciding to contract with the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office in about 2014. “I think they had trouble recruiting,” he added. “It’s difficult to have a police force with only three officers. Poplar is extremely busy, a lot of calls.”
When the original contract was agreed upon, two of the Poplar officers started to work for the sheriff’s office. Equipment was also transferred to the office. He said that the City of Poplar was paying more than $200,000 to the office when the contract began. The amount kept decreasing through the years and recently was under $100,000, he added.
“As years went by, I believe the tax base is eroding,” Summers said.
He explained the average expense for a deputy’s salary and benefits cost about $65,000 annually. That doesn’t include potential overtime pay.
He noted a requirement of the contract was the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office needed to have an officer within seven miles of Poplar at all times. That requirement made it a challenge for the sheriff’s office to always properly cover the entire county.
“A lot of our taxpayers are farmers and ranchers,” Summers said. “It seems like people are targeting farmhouses. They are getting burglarized. Outlying areas want to see deputies more often. Our hands have been tied.”
Not being bound by the contract will make it easier for the office to keep an eye of the entire county.
“Now, we have freedom. Our deputies aren’t tethered,” Summers said. “They are more flexible now.”
The sheriff’s office is still committed to the Poplar community. In fact, an agreement was recently made with the Fort Peck Community College to use the former tribal health insurance program building as an office.
Summers explains the office keeps extremely busy covering the county. For example, there were 1,359 calls for service in Poplar for 2020 through November, Other call totals included 165 for Poplar’s rural area, 89 for the Poplar airport addition and 388 for the Fort Peck Housing Authority area.
Calls for service during 2020 have also included 334 in Culbertson, 95 in Bainville, 34 in Froid and 256 in rural Bainville.
Currently, two deputies live in Culbertson and another resides in Froid.
“We’vealwaystakencareofthem,” Summers said of the Culbertson, Bainville and Froid communities. “The remote areas will get more coverage now. It gives our deputies more flexibility to respond to calls.”
