By Sara QuamA part of the new law enforcement contract calls for the Sheriff’s Office to generate detailed reports of activities for the city of Luverne.The city had requested the information from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office this year in order to get an idea of what its nearly half of the law enforcement cost was going toward.The Sheriff and some county leaders said they felt as if the city was trying to micromanage their department. The city said it just wants the department accountable to customers.Mayor Andy Steensma said, "If we have the time, type and frequencies [of calls for service], we’ll know what we need — and that’s pretty important."For one, the city may consider not having coverage 24 hours a day, which it has since the city and county law enforcement units merged in 1998.The city can renegotiate coverage if the cost increases too much or if it loses state aid, and the county will alter its department accordingly.One thing the county has cautioned the city on is judging costs as "per hour" for services. Sometimes that isn’t as predictable as it may seem. For example, a five-person drug bust a couple years ago had eight people in the department working 10-hour days for a week.When people call for service from the Rock County Sheriff’s Department, dispatchers record the calls as initial complaint reports.City of Luverne staff requested a summary of ICRs because some items recorded as such aren’t really "complaints."For example, the ambulance runs to and from nursing homes and funeral escorts are logged as ICRs.The city also wants to know what citations are handed out by the department. In 2003, there were 32 parking violations in the city, for instance.The Sheriff and members of the Luverne City Council and Rock County Board of Commissioners will detail how the reports will be handled.
