SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Department of Public Safety recently reported to state officials that the highway patrol is down 25 troopers.
State Public Safety Secretary Bob Perry told the Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee on Sept. 24 that most of those openings are in rural areas in the western part of the state. The 25 openings is 12% of the department’s 210 positions.
The openings for 2025 are roughly five years after former Gov. Kristi Noem launched a state paid campaign to recruit law officers to South Dakota. Noem announced the campaign in 2020. On Nov. 18, 2020, Noem said the state had received applications from over 25 states for law enforcement jobs in South Dakota.
“The campaign led to hundreds of law enforcement officers being hired in South Dakota,” Noem said in a Feb. 9, 2022, news release. On that date, she encouraged officers who worked in Los Angeles County, California, who faced potential firing because of vaccine status to come and work in South Dakota.
In February of 2024, Noem launched a “Freedom Works” ad that featured her as a state patrol officer as a way to encourage law officers to apply for jobs in the state.
In addition to the 25 trooper openings, a search of law enforcement job online sites, general employment sites, and websites for individual cities and counties in the state shows that as of Thursday, there are still law enforcement openings around the state.
But in cities such as Lennox, the advertising for a part-time police officer is almost constant, as the department seeks part-timers to help fill in for officer vacations and similar, said Lennox Police Chief Will Ericksen. The department has five full-time officers as it at full staff, Ericksen said.
“Our full-time staff has been full-time for a few years,” Ericksen said.
The most recent hire is starting their second year, he said.
Ericksen said Noem’s campaigns did have an impact on interest in South Dakota law enforcement both within the state and outside the state.
Although the staff is all in-state residents, “We do see quite a variety,” Ericksen said. “Last month, I had someone who applied from Pennsylvania.”
He’s had interest from Maryland and New Jersey over the past several years.
While Noem seized on unrest in some cities and COVID-19 to recruit law officers to South Dakota for what she described as more freedom, rural areas of the state were noting difficulty with recruitment and retaining in early 2019, before the COVID pandemic.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice had a series of meetings around the U.S. called “Conversations with rural law enforcement leaders” including one in April of 2019 in South Dakota. According to a report, 53 South Dakota state and local law enforcement leaders attended.
In South Dakota, “sheriffs also discussed the challenges in recruiting new officers to work in areas that do not have adequate housing and entertainment options, as well as retaining experienced officers who can earn more money and have more standard schedules working in larger cities,” the report said.
Perry told the state committee on Sept. 24 that the patrol doesn’t really have trouble filling the Sioux Falls positions.
Ericksen said law officers can be attracted the pace of a larger police force in a city and the chances for advancement.
He and his department have chosen to emphasize the benefits of a career in a small community. Ericksen became police chief in 2012.
“We had turnover. We had four officers instead of five,” Ericksen said. “It seemed every year there was (turnover).”
Ericksen wants Lennox police officers to “embrace the community.” Officers need to be invested in the job and the community.
“We encourage officers that when they see kids in a park to get out of the patrol vehicle. Introduce yourself,” Ericksen said.
It’s the same if an officer sees a fire pit at a residence during the summer. The officers are encouraged to introduce themselves to those outside, Ericksen said.
Police may see people on their worst day but by embracing the community, they can also see people on their best days, he said.
It’s not always easy to find the officers willing to embrace the small town career.
“It’s always a difficult challenge to find the right fit for the demographic,” Ericksen said. The interview process helps the department find the right candidates, he said.
