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1. What is contract policing?

When a city chooses to contract for police services with the Sheriff’s Office, it hires the Sheriff to enhance the basic services already provided by the county. Essentially, the city contracts the Sheriff to become the local police department and provide a quality level of police service.

2. What are the Sheriff’s responsibilities?

By statute, the Sheriff is responsible to “keep the peace,” “pursue and apprehend felons,” “be officers of the court,” “patrol water ways,” “death investigation,” “search for missing or lost persons,” and is the “keeper of the jail.”

Additionally, the County Board has authorized the Sheriff to operate a 911 dispatch center, maintain an adult detention center (jail), operate a uniformed road patrol division, civil/bailiff/transport division, and a water / ATV / snowmobile division to meet the basic statutory requirements of responding to emergencies and investigating major crimes. The Sheriff’s Office also provides canine units, a Tactical (SWAT) Team, school resource officers, and an investigation division to aid us in meeting the public safety concerns of the citizens of Pine Island and all of Goodhue County.

3. What are the responsibilities of the city?

A city has the responsibility to manage policing issues in their community and the responsibility to furnish police services to handle their calls. In order to meet this responsibility, cities have the statutory authority to create their own police department, join a joint powers police department, or contract for police services from the Sheriff’s Office.

4. Why contract for policing?

Contract policing allows the city to partner with the county and leverage resources together to share and reduce costs for supervision, administration, training, clerical support, vehicles and equipment. Contracting also facilitates greater communication and coordination creating an efficient, effective and affordable model of policing for your community.

5. Who determines the level of policing?

Community leaders identify the level of police service they would like to provide their community. Typically this includes preventive patrol, traffic enforcement, local ordinance enforcement, home / business checks, investigation of crimes, animal and public nuisance complaints, community event coordination, and crime prevention. School resource deputies are also provided to the City of Pine Island. This position is contracted and paid for in part by the Pine Island School District, along with the Sheriff’s Office.