June 10, 2021 at 1:12 p.m.
Sheriff Tom Burch presents annual report to Cass Board
Burch and Chief Deputy Erick Hoglund head a staff comprised of one administrative assistant, two lieutenants, four sergeants, four investigators, 21 patrol deputies, three recreational deputies, one civil process deputy, one welfare fraud deputy, one jail program coordinator, 12 correction officers, two transport officers, one sentence to serve crew leader, two bailiffs, one chief dispatcher, 10 dispatchers, an emergency management director, a records coordinator and three support staff.
The county board approved Tuesday creating the fourth sergeant position, who will be assigned as an assistant jail administrator. The board also approved filling an investigator vacancy created by a retirement last year.
The annual report shows about 45 percent of the sheriff's budget is spent on patrol and investigations, followed by about 30 percent for jail and sentence to serve costs and about 10 percent for dispatch/911. The balance is spent on recreation education and enforcement, emergency response, medical examiner costs, administration and records.
Cass has two trained dispatchers on duty at all times who dispatch for all emergency services in the county, except the Leech Lake Tribal Police. Officers are on patrol 24 hours a day.
The sheriff's office issued 460 permits to purchase a gun in 2014 and 361 permits to carry. This is down from 475 permits to purchase and 576 permits to carry in 2013.
There currently are 47 active warrants for felony offenses, 40 for gross misdemeanors, 68 for misdemeanors and one for a mental pick up. There are no currently juvenile warrants outstanding.
The department cleared 236 felony warrants in 2014, 145 for gross misdemeanors, 236 for misdemeanors and picked up one person for a mental health issue.
There were 19,407 incident reports filed at the sheriff's office in 2014, down slightly from the 19,830 registered in 2013.
A significantly larger number of people now use wireless phones to call 911 than those who use a wired line.
Among townships the highest number of calls for service in 2014 came from Pike Bay (2,296), Shingobee (1,208), Turtle Lake (833), Sylvan (679) and Pine River (586). Among cities, the highest number of calls came from Cass Lake (2,253), Walker (1,370), Pine River (1,293), and Lake Shore (776).
Serious crimes were down from the prior three years at 286 in 2014, being the lowest since 2010.
There were 21 assaults, 207 burglaries, two criminal vehicular operation cases, one kidnapping and 55 criminal sexual conduct cases. There were no homicides in 2014.
There were 231 motor vehicle accidents without injuries in 2014, 191 collisions with deer without human injury, 69 accidents with injury, three accidents with deer and injury to humans and three fatal accidents.
Average response to call time is now 12.82 minutes. Deputies spend an average of almost an hour on each call.
The sheriff's officers arrested 113 impaired drivers who had an average .18 blood alcohol level. The highest reading taken was .31 blood alcohol level.
Yankee, the department's current K-9 police dog, is certified in narcotics, tracking and patrol dog duties. Between patrol assignments, Yankee and his handler Bill O'Connor have visited schools in the county, appeared for civic clubs and assisted neighboring counties.
Cass has an emergency response tactical team, which trains monthly.
Deputies do random checks on registered predatory offenders to confirm they still live where they had registered their residence.
The public has disposed of about 320 pounds of old or unused medications at "Take It to The Box" drop sites at the county law enforcement center in Walker and city halls in Lake Shore, Pine River and Cass Lake.
The sheriff currently contracts to provide police services to the cities of Backus and Cass Lake.
Officers served 1,256 civil papers in 2014 and collected $76,525 in civil fees.
The recreational and boat and water safety programs offer educational services as well as enforcement for watercraft, all-terrain vehicles, off road vehicles and snowmobiles. That division also inspected 702 resort and rental boats in 2014 and placed 233 summer navigation buoys and markers. They issued 1,011 temporary structure/raft permits.
Sheriff's officers work with TRIAD, an educational and collaborative senior citizen safety program. That jointly works with senior groups to promote senior safety awareness and emergency preparedness.
The sheriff's mounted posse is on-call 24 hours a day when the sheriff needs their services. These volunteers assist with search and rescue, participate in community celebration parades. They train regularly and must have horses acclimated to loud sounds and noisy crowds.
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