By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Humboldt, IA – Humboldt City Council began the necessary steps to relocate the Humboldt Police Department from the Humboldt County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) during their Monday session.
The council has agreed to begin the process to relocate the Humboldt Police Department to the Humboldt Fire Station located at 411 10th Ave North as a temporary base of operations. The City of Humboldt will do so by updating and negotiating the terms of their 28E Agreement with Humboldt County. The city says utilizing the Fire Station would not require any investment in remodeling, leasing, or purchasing a new property, which was the main drawback of previously discussed options for relocation.
Humboldt City Administrator Cole Bockelmann on the relocation.
The discussion of relocation was first looked at on February 2 at their council meeting, with an agreement made at that meeting to sit down with two members of the Public safety Commission, Humboldt County Sheriff Dean Kruger and Humboldt Police Chief Jacob Miller privately to address longstanding problems and tension between the departments. That meeting between department heads took place on February 18 and according to the city, all parties had agreed the meeting was productive and appeared to reach consensus on several issues and agreed to clear expectations moving forward.
The city says the work environment at the LEC has rapidly deteriorated since that meeting. Despite agreeing to shared expectations, the city alleges the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department has continued a pattern of deliberate undermining of their operations, morale, and objectives. The city included a list of 18 grievances against the Sheriff’s Office as part of their discussion.
The city says the move would be a temporary solution with work to be done to find a permanent solution for the home of the Humboldt Police Department.