SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Shootings involving Sioux Falls Police Department officers are becoming more common; there have been three in the last month and six since last November.
“There’s more guns out there, there’s more people willing to use them, and that’s a societal issue that we kind of need to talk about and really talk to especially young people and people within our community about the guns, and it’s a serious issue,” department Chief Jon Thum said on Tuesday.
KELOLAND News asked the chief to elaborate on those comments, and he did so on Friday. Thum says Sioux Falls has changed since he started as a patrol officer in 2005.
“Over the past several years, we’ve just noticed the frequency of us coming into contact with firearms has gone up substantially,” Thum said. “When I first started as a patrol officer, you’d see them here or there. A lot of times may be under a car seat or concealed somewhere. And now we’re just seeing more and more on their person.”
He says the city is also getting more reports of gunshots, and that’s not all that’s changed.
“Really a more confrontational style towards law enforcement that a lot of people have, and what you see is just an alarming trend where people, again, proximity or possession of a weapon, more willingness to use it, getting in conflict with law enforcement and then deciding that that’s a step that they want to take,” Thum said.
As he sees it, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all analysis or solution.
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“And again, I think you can look at each one of these situations that have taken place, and again I can maybe get caught in the number, but what I really have to do is look at each situation,” Thum said. “And I think if you look in each situation, our officers are responding to actions made by other people.”
While there may not be a simple solution, one way to start is by talking to kids.
“I think it’s up for young people and for people just to say in general, if you’re going to be associated with guns, if you see this as something that’s an avenue then I’m not going to be involved in that, right, and I’m going to maybe call it out as I see it,” Thum said.
And make sure kids understand the real-life consequences.
“I think many times people watch movies, and they watch TV, and they think like this is just a casual event, right, when an officer has to discharge their weapon in the line of duty. It is not a casual event,” Thum said. “It is not movies, it is not TV, like there’s a real impact, right. There’s a real impact and again, I think people sometimes lose sight of that.”
