City’s new violent crimes unit to target major offenders with comprehensive approach

The newest unit of the Sioux Falls Police Department is aimed at holding the city’s most violent offenders accountable.

The new violent crimes unit is a merger of the city’s narcotics crime unit and street crimes unit, with an added focus on intelligence-based policing.

“We did a deep dive into aggregated assault statistics and found it’s a lot of the same people making appearances, and prosecuting a crime sometimes is difficult,” Police Chief Jon Thum said.

“Witnesses aren’t always willing to be involved. But we saw a lot of people heavily involved in the justice system, so as part of a holistic look … we wanted to make sure people engaging in this activity repeatedly are held accountable.”

In 2018, Mayor Paul TenHaken led the creation of the narcotics crime unit to deal with issues at a neighborhood level, while the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force focuses on larger drug trafficking. The street crimes unit was established in 2007 to address emerging crime trends.

It made sense to merge into one, supported by eight officers, and enhance the focus on violent crime, Thum said.

“We want to pool our resources and take a good look at the violent offenders in our community and use intelligence-based policing so we know what they’re really up to,” he said. “And really make a concentrated effort working with the courts to make sure we’re holding people accountable.”

What does that look like on the ground? Thum points to a recent traffic stop that produced a stolen firearm.

“Typically, a patrol officer wouldn’t have the time to work that case further,” he said. “This group can. In the same day, they did a follow-up investigation and worked some leads.”

It led to another narcotics arrest.

“It’s a nimble, proactive response that allows for immediate follow-up to build cases,” Thum said. “It’s working on building better investigations and better cases and really presenting something to the court system that is better for prosecution.”

The increased use of technology-driven investigations is key too, he added.

“How can we police smarter? Thankfully, the mayor and council have been very supportive of our efforts. We’re looking at ways we can really use technology to do things well and use intelligence-based policing. I think that’s what the public would expect as we proactively go after people who seek to harm our community,” he said.

“A lot of it is making sure we know the primary players and using proactive police work for people involved in gangs or criminal activity. I think there’s a misconception these are all drug dealers. Drugs usually have a nexus in it, but there’s a more comprehensive look to take at violent crime and the violent people in our community.”

At the same time, the city is working with the South Dakota Department of Corrections “to make sure people are receiving the support they need while incarcerated so we don’t end up with a cycle of recidivism,” he added.

The violent crimes unit also will be able to make “a concentrated effort on finding people and getting them arrested — long-term parole absconders who have outstanding warrants,” Thum said.

Additionally, it will focus on neighborhood-level issues that “might seem like one thing, but they lead to bigger drug or crime elements,” he said. “There will be a focus across the board on making sure we protect our neighborhoods. If you’re a person in Sioux Falls intending to inflict harm on other people, we don’t want you to be comfortable. We want to make sure you know we’re out actively engaging if your purpose is to do harm.”