Elko New Market reinstates police

Police officers will be back on the street today in Elko New Market.

The City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to reinstate the city's police force. The vote, which came with some conditions, brought cheers from more than 150 residents who had crowded into Eagle View Elementary School, where the meeting had been moved because it offered a larger venue than City Hall.

Police officers in the community south of the Twin Cities had been on administrative duty since the City Council voted to remove them from patrol, effective at midnight April 9, with the intent of disbanding the department entirely on May 13. That vote, with Mayor Jason Ponsonby and Council Member Dennis Melgaard dissenting, came at a meeting in which no such action was previously posted on the agenda.

On Thursday night, many urged the council to reinstate the police force. Some even called for the resignation of the council members who voted to abolish the department, drawing cheers from the crowd.

After hearing from many citizens, the council voted to reinstate the force on condition that:

• Personnel reviews are conducted for Police Chief Rick Jensen and chief Sgt. Steven Malecka.

• Malecka remains on administrative leave until his job review is complete.

• The city consider hiring a consultant to look at whether it makes the most financial sense to keep the police force or to contract out to the Scott County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement.

"It's a good start," said resident Carolyn Miller after the vote. "I'm really glad that our citizens will have some coverage on the streets."

Earlier Thursday, Apple Valley lawyer Bob Bauer, who said he was hired by a "concerned citizen" to review the council's actions, sent letters to the city saying the council's April 9 vote was "void" because the department was established by ordinance and the council had not actually repealed that ordinance.

"Right now, you are in violation of your own ordinance," Bauer told council members at the meeting, adding that its action was "tantamount to malfeasance."

Before the meeting, more than 60 residents, including children and even dogs carrying sandwich-boards, wielded signs outside the school urging the council to reinstate the police.

The three council members who had voted to disband the department -- Bob Hanna, Denise Schneider and Jim Friedges -- said contracting with the sheriff would save money, especially in the long run as Elko New Market police would have needed better facilities and equipment.

But the city staff had told the council that such a contract would be more expensive on an hourly basis. The local police would cost about $56 an hour for 90 hours of coverage each week, while the Sheriff's Office would cost about $66 an hour for 80 hours.

The earlier vote drew both praise and outrage around the town of about 3,800. Days after the council's decision, graffiti appeared on a city park shed, reading "This is what no cops looks like."

The Scott County Sheriff's Office had been working overtime to cover Elko New Market.

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056