Tri-county agreement for SWAT, sheriff’s office debated Monday

The main proposals brought up to Cheyenne County Board of Commissioners and Cheyenne County Board of Equalization members Monday investigated to what degree the Cheyenne County Sheriff and SWAT forces should be allowed to assist other counties in the time of an emergency.

“We’re proposing an agreement that is already in place in counties north of us,” county attorney Paul Schaub said.

Proposed was a county sheriff interlocal agreement between Cheyenne County, Deuel County and Garden County.

Schaub used the example of a gunshot reported in the town of Lodgepole to explain the proposal. He compared the response time of authorities responding from Sidney and the time of those responding from Chappell, showing the obvious difference.

“When you are talking about an emergency, every second counts,” Schaub said.

Schaub explained that the current statute already in place allows for certain emergency help without an official agreement in place. He used the instances of when a law enforcement officer is in danger or in the event that police need help apprehending a suspect to avoid them harming someone or damaging property as examples of what of the statute.

“My concern is when you have a situation like that where you don’t know for certain whether anybody is in danger or property is endangered. You just have a report of a shot fired, which could be an accidental discharge even,” Schaub said. “Somebody could be holding hostages. Seconds count in a situation like that; you need to have somebody on scene.”

“With this type of agreement it would allow a law enforcement officer from a neighboring jurisdiction to go that location,” Schaub said. “They could remain in place and act as if they have the same authority as an officer in that county but would be under the direct supervision of the sheriff of the primary jurisdiction.”

Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jensen said that while he wants this proposition to succeed he also wants to reassure the commissioners that law enforcement officers would only be sent to aid other counties when they had the extra officers to do so.

“If I don’t have enough officers to keep Cheyenne County safe then we aren’t going to send anybody,” Jensen said. “Our primary jurisdiction has to come first.”

Though some commissioners still held concerns about having enough law enforcement left in Cheyenne County during an event in another county, Jensen said that they would make sure that isn’t a problem.

“Rely on us having common sense. This is for something that we need to get done right away and are close enough to do it,” Jensen said. “We have got to stay on the front edge of this and be proactive. This is for the extreme measures that are going on in our world. Not for routine calls of service.”

Schaub said that he would send a copy of the proposal to the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association, NIRMA, for them to review and ask for recommendations.

“We want to get everything on paper in black and white so there is no misunderstanding how it is and what it is in the contract,” Jensen said.

Another proposal brought up to board members was a SWAT agreement with Cheyenne County and Deuel County.

The current SWAT team for Cheyenne County is composed of City of Sidney forces as well as Cheyenne County forces.

Jensen said that the proposal includes both allowing Deuel County law enforcement to participate in Cheyenne County’s SWAT program as well as Cheyenne County providing SWAT services in Deuel County.

The Nebraska State Patrol also has a SWAT team that has members distributed throughout Nebraska, Jensen said.

Board member Steven Olson asked if an event occurs in Deuel County that needed a SWAT team response whether one would be supplied faster from Cheyenne County or state troopers.

A complete SWAT team would come faster from Sidney, Jensen said. Although some state troopers might arrive on the scene at the same time, it probably wouldn’t be a complete team.

Jensen said that the situation could require just two officers or up to a whole team of SWAT members.

Being a member of the SWAT team is no easy matter either, Jensen said.

“You cannot be on a SWAT team unless you are a police officer or deputy,” he said. “It’s like being on the football team. If you want to be on the football team you got to try and show that you’re capable of handling it and there are rough qualifications. We put them through hell and they do a great job.”

Board Member Ken McMillen inquired about the costs of fuel and man-hours that the county would incur as a result of the SWAT team expansion.

“I know there are costs involved, but it’s the problems I’m looking at. I don’t want those problems to get out of hand,” Jensen said. “They have to be dealt with no matter the consequence. Whether it’s homicide, a hostage situation or an active shooter situation everything is different.”

Jensen said that though there may be costs, the team and therefore Cheyenne County would benefit from the SWAT team member’s experience.

“The more times our team is used the better our team is. We’re going to reap the benefits like we do in training. That’s how teams become great teams,” Jensen said.

The SWAT agreement will also be sent to NIRMA and has to go through the city council before it is approved.

Both topics will be readdressed in two weeks after confirmation from NIRMA.

Other topics approved at the meeting were direct deposit for county payroll and a liquor license for Pheasants Forever at their banquet on March 2.

Committee members were also appointed to the Cheyenne County Fair Board and the Cheyenne County Planning and Zoning Commission.

Appointed and in some cases reappointed to the fair board were David Weiderspon, Harold (Herb) Haller and Kip Miller.

For the planning and zoning committee, Harvey Jung was appointed to fill out a vacancy for the upcoming year and Walter Narjes was appointed to fill out the balance of a term during 2013.

Nan Mull and Ron Flohr were reappointed to the board through the year 2015.

The next meeting of the Cheyenne Commissioners will be Tues. Jan. 22.