Smelterville, SCSO relationship comes to an end

SMELTERVILLE — The contractual relationship between the city of Smelterville and the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office has come to an end after city officials declined to renew their deal with the SCSO.

The city had been paying SCSO $1,750 a month for a guaranteed 80 hours a month of coverage and patrol since they negotiated the hourly amount in 2017. This 80 hours was additional time that deputies were to spend in the city and would not count toward the hours they spent responding to crimes in progress.

Following a city council meeting on Wednesday, Smelterville Mayor Tom Benson spoke to the News-Press and expressed his displeasure with what he believed to be a subpar effort on behalf of SCSO.

“We were not happy with the service we were getting and it’s been going on for a long, long time,” Benson said.

Sheriff Mike Gunderson was caught off guard by Benson’s statements, due largely to the fact that when he called and asked city officials if there were any issues, he said that they told him no.

One of the largest complaints Benson said has been that the hourly requirement of patrol hours wasn’t being met, but Gunderson said that in the last year- they’ve averaged more than double the contractual amount of 80 hours each month.

He added that the level of service that they were providing Smelterville is coming to them at an incredibly discounted price point.

“$20,000 per year for a $150,000 service is a pretty good deal,” Gunderson said. “From August of last year to now, we’ve averaged 168 hours per month of patrol hours inside Smelterville. At that rate, when you factor in the hourly cost of paying a deputy being roughly $42 per hour, you’re looking at almost $7,100 per month in just wages, that’s not counting vehicle maintenance, fuel and other related expenses.”

Benson also discussed some disdain with how the patrolling deputies spent their time inside the city limits — especially when it came to where they were when they were in town.

“There are certain areas of town that really need attention and they’re not giving them the attention I think that they need,” Benson said. “When I ask, they tell me that they need more hours, but I see them sitting down here at the end of town by the coffee stand where there is no activity, they sit there for hours and hours and hours. And we get billed for those hours. There’s no activity — but there’s great cell service.”

Gunderson addressed these comments directly in an interview with the News-Press, citing crime prevention techniques like simple visibility as a viable reason for them to sit near the intersection of Airport Road and Main Street.

“Of the 101 arrests we’ve made in Smelterville in the 12 months, 31 of them came directly off of Main Street,” Gunderson said. People don’t see us there 24 hours a day, so they just think they don’t ever see us. But there isn’t anywhere that we can be for 24 hours a day.”

Gunderson also highlighted some frustrations over broken promises between his office and Smelterville that may have played a part in souring some of the relationship.

“When we signed our agreement a few years ago, they promised us that if they had any extra money that it would go to the sheriff’s office,” Gunderson recalled. “But then we hear that they have money for a code enforcement officer. Do they need a code enforcement officer? Yes, I think it is something they need, but I also think we made a dent in some of their problems too.”

Along with the 101 arrests in the last 12 months, Gunderson said his department responded to 850 calls, made 293 traffic stops, and patrolled the city for 2,000 hours — not counting the time associated with any of the paperwork for the previously listed incidents.

According to Mayor Benson, when he recently spoke with Gunderson, he was informed that the SCSO would not be responding to anything that wasn’t an active crime inside the city limits.

This means no enforcement of infractions, codes violations or ordinances — including blights.

Blights have long been an issue for Smelterville, one that Mayor Benson and Sheriff Gunderson prioritized when they signed their contract in 2017.

It's possible that the lack of law enforcement in the city will hamstring the efforts by Benson and the council to continue working toward the goal of cleaning up Smelterville.

“I’m not a cop, nobody at this table is a cop. We can’t go onto anyone’s property and serve them notices. We don’t have powers of arrest or anything like that,” Benson said to his council.

The city of Smelterville has sent RFP (request for proposal) letters to other law enforcement agencies in the Silver Valley requesting bids from them for police protection. Reportedly, the Kellogg Police Department already declined.

Gunderson himself caught wind of the RFP’s and his thoughts on the matter are quite simple.

“If they’re that dissatisfied with the service we’ve provided them, then we should just separate,” Gunderson said.

Benson also spoke with Pinehurst Mayor Bob Jutila, who is looking into providing service for the town on a temporary basis.

At this time, Pinehurst only has two patrol officers, including their chief of police and Benson said any help would be temporary until October when the new fiscal year begins for Smelterville.

Other options are being considered, but no decisions are being made at this time.

The News-Press will continue to follow this story as it develops.