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Tower council shows little interest in forming police department
Tower-Soudan looks to rely on county for law enforcement Posted
Marshall Helmberger
TOWER Residents here will likely be reliant on the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office for emergency law enforcement response for the foreseeable future, as officials in both Breitung Township and the city of Tower appear reluctant to re-establish a local police department in the wake of the resignation of former chief Dan Nylund.
Last week, Breitung supervisors said liability and expense were two key factors behind their preference to hand over local law enforcement responsibility to either St. Louis County or the city of Tower. Having Tower assume responsibility for establishing local police was Option Two on a list of five alternatives developed during last week’s meeting in Breitung.
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Tower council rejects move to suspend on-call police coverage Posted
Marshall Helmberger
TOWER The city council here, at a special meeting on Monday, rejected on a two-two vote a move by Breitung Township to suspend on-call police coverage for the months from February through April but it’s unclear if the decision will ultimately matter.
Under the township’s police contract with the city, Breitung retains the right to manage personnel hours for the township’s officers. The town board greenlighted the staffing reduction at their own board meeting last week but did so after hearing from Tower Mayor Orlyn Kringstad that he was approving the change on behalf of the city via executive order. He acknowledged at Monday’s special meeting that he lacked the authority to make such a decision on behalf of the council.