Police activity skyrockets in Blooming Prairie in 3 years

At first glance it may appear the calls for service to Blooming Prairie Police are through the roof.
In 2017, local police responded to 3,034 incidents within Blooming Prairie compared to 1,707 in 2014. That’s a 44 percent increase in activity for a department with three full-time officers and several part-timers. 
While Chief Greg Skillestad acknowledges the calls have increased substantially over the past three years, he’s quick to point out it certainly does not reflect that crime is running rampant. Instead, he says, it’s a sign of a department that’s proactively tackling issues before they become worse.
Within the past year, Blooming Prairie increased a fourth officer to nearly full-time hours allowing the city to have around the clock police coverage on most days. Officer Dan Peach is working 32 hours per week.
Judging by the calls for service, Skillestad said the city warrants having a fourth full-time officer. He would like to see Peach’s hours increased to 40 per week to handle the increasing work load. 
“We want to continue to be proactive,” Skillestad said. “I don’t like to react.”
The current scheduling allows for two officers to take calls before 8 a.m. “That’s huge to have two officers available,” Skillestad said. He noted his big push has been to have a squad available both before and after school hours. 
The largest increases in call volume have been curfew violations and mental health calls. Those calls have skyrocketed 90 percent over 2014 activity, according to Skillestad. 
In regards to curfew, Skillestad said the numbers are reflective of having an overnight car making contact with kids loitering around the city. “We’re making more contacts like we have never before,” he said. “We’re getting to know the kids a lot more,” he added.
Mental health calls are “through the roof,” Skillestad said. He said officers are dealing with mental health issues at the schools as well as homes. The spike in mental health calls also has become an increasing strain on the local ambulance service as EMTs are utilized to transport people to the hospital for further evaluation.
“Depression is extremely high,” Skillestad said. “There are a lot of people that need help and it’s concerning,” he said, adding officers are not doctors, but try to be the best counselors they can be in those situations.
Other areas that have seen significant jumps are noise complaints (82 percent), drug activity (80 percent) and neighborhood disputes (67 percent).
Skillestad said that while alcohol had always been a big problem in the past, the shift has now taken place to marijuana. Officers have discovered marijuana in the city parks. “It’s huge,” he said of the marijuana problem. “They chose to do marijuana over alcohol,” he added.
One area of particular concern for Skillestad is the 50 percent jump in criminal sexual conduct cases. He said the number of sex cases in Blooming Prairie is nearly equal to the number in the rest of the county, excluding Owatonna. 
Officers have found many juvenile cases of pornography, according to Skillestad. “It comes because of our social media. People are sending photos,” he said. 
The chief warned against people sending images over the computer. “People think once it’s gone, it’s gone, but it’s not,” Skillestad said. “We have technology to bring it back. Basically if you want to get rid of computer (images), you have to burn it.”
Police saw a 50 percent jump in suspicious activity throughout the city. Skillestad attributes that large increase to self-initiated activity by his officers, especially throughout the overnight hours. 
“Our officers are checking on individuals walking in the alley or behind a business,” Skillestad said. “We check into anything that draws attention to an officer on patrol. We’re not just sitting around and being reactive waiting for the calls,” he said.
Despite the large jumps in many categories of calls, Skillestad isn’t alarmed. 
“The community of Blooming Prairie needs to know this is a very safe community,” Skillestad said. “It’s the best kept secret in southern Minnesota.”
Skillestad hopes community members will join in the effort to keep the community safe. He urges residents to call 911 if they see suspicious activity.
He said, “We’re here to deter crime. We never will know what we prevent, but we know what we catch.”