By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
COLUMBUS, Kan. — Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Norman on Wednesday faxed a statement to police chiefs in Galena and Columbus, telling them to stay on their own turf.
The police chiefs said their officers respond outside their respective city limits only when dispatched by the Sheriff’s Department when a Sheriff’s deputy is not immediately available.
Norman disputed that, saying the police departments were “jumping calls.”
“They don’t have any jurisdiction outside of their city limits,” Norman said in a phone conversation.
‘It’s their baby’
Norman’s faxed statement says that police departments in Baxter Springs, West Mineral and Weir each have mutual-aid agreements with the Sheriff’s Department that allows them to go outside of their jurisdictions and which covers liability concerns. He said in a subsequent phone conversation that the Chetopa Police Department also has a mutual-aid agreement with the Sheriff’s Department.
“Any request from Columbus officers or Galena officers to first-respond into the county will politely be denied unless otherwise approved by Undersheriff (Kent) Soucy or myself,” Norman wrote.
In another line from the statement that is difficult to read, Norman wrote: “No patrol deputy or communications officer has the authority to have these agencies respond outside of their respective jurisdictions.”
The statement says that the Sheriff’s Department will not assume authority of a crime or accident scene where the two police departments have arrived first.
“We’re not going to assume the liability,” Norman said in the phone interview.
He said if the police departments arrive first at a crime scene or accident scene outside their jurisdictions “it’s their baby.”
‘Lives at stake’
Galena police Chief Larry Delmont and Columbus police Chief Chuck Sharp each said that the only time they have gone outside their city limits is when the Sheriff’s Department has dispatched them to a call when a Sheriff’s deputy has not been available.
Sharp said there have been domestic assaults, traffic crashes and shootings near the city which his department has responded to when dispatched by the Sheriff’s Department. He used the August shooting death of Suzanne Jarman as an example.
“There have been car accidents where people have been seriously hurt,” Sharp said. “This could put lives at stake.”
Asked if responding outside his jurisdiction created a liability issue for his department, Sharp said they don’t have a liability if dispatched to the location by the Sheriff’s Department.
Sharp said his department has been happy to help. He said if a county officer can’t call city police for backup in a potentially dangerous situation, that could potentially put the officer’s life in jeopardy.
“This is something the citizens need to know, because their safety’s at issue,” Sharp said.
Sharp has been an outspoken critic of Norman.
Delmont, too, said his officers have responded to emergencies when dispatched by the Sheriff’s Department. He said he wasn’t pleased with the tone of the statement.
“All agencies need to work together,” Delmont said. “There’s no sense in that (fax.) We need to communicate and we need to work together.”
Delmont said under the policy, if his officers were to observe someone being assaulted across the street from the city limit, they could not intervene unless the Sheriff or Undersheriff approved it.
Both Delmont and Sharp said they also sometimes interview witnesses to crimes outside their cities during investigations.
The two also said that when they respond with the blessing of the Sheriff’s Department, they only remain at the scene until Sheriff’s deputies arrive at the scene and relieve them.
‘Jumping calls’
Norman disputed that his dispatchers were calling the police departments.
“They were jumping calls,” Norman said. “They weren’t being asked to respond.”
Norman said the Sheriff’s Department has the ability to respond to almost all calls in the county quickly. He said if outside help were needed, he wouldn’t hesitate to authorize it. He wrote in the statement that he would first rely on agencies which have mutual-aid agreements with his department.
“We have the resources to respond to all calls,” Norman said.
Norman said the issue probably could be resolved by the two departments signing mutual-aid agreements with the Sheriff’s Department. He said that would require a review of their officer rosters to determine that all were properly certified.
Delmont and Sharp said they have not been asked to form mutual-aid agreements with the Sheriff’s Department.
“If it’s something like mutual aid that needs to be signed, bring it over and we’ll sign it,” Delmont said.
Norman said the statement, with Sunday’s date, began as an internal memo, but he decided to fax it to the Columbus and Galena police departments on Wednesday to make his policy clear.
Response circumstances
Galena police Chief Larry Delmont said the circumstances under which his officers may operate outside city limits are: fresh pursuit; at the Sheriff’s Department’s request; or under a mutual-aid agreement with the Sheriff’s Department.
