Cliff Buchan
News EditorSo, whatís the big deal about a 53-minute drive to Hastings compared to a 34-minute drive to Stillwater?
If you are Clark Quiring, Forest Lakeís chief of police and director of public safety, the drive is a big deal when police officers are being taken off the street to transport drunks to a detoxification center.
Following a July 5 change in contract status, police throughout Washington County are now required to transport intoxicated individuals directly to the detox center in Hastings. In the past, police from Forest Lake have taken individuals to the county jail in Stillwater where the Dakota County Receiving Center picked them up.
But under a new contract between Washington and Dakota counties, that service is no longer being offered.
ìI know itís going to be a lot of time,î Quiring said, commenting on the contract change. ìThatís our biggest concern ó the time comes from the street and usually itís always at the busiest time.î
On July 6, the Washington County Board approved a new, six-month agreement with the Dakota County Receiving Center to provide detoxification services to Washington County.
Cynthia Rupp, community services division manager, told the county board the DCRC has provided chemical dependency detoxification services to Washington County for the past several years.
ìIn the past, Washington County accessed these services through a host county agreement between Dakota County and the DCRC,î Rupp said. ìThe agreement between Dakota County and the DCRC has now expired, and Dakota County does not plan to renew the contract.î
The DCRC provides detoxification services on average for about five persons per day in cases where Washington County is the county of financial responsibility. The rate is $235 per day, per individual.
According to Rupp, the DCRC will not provide transportation from the Washington County Law Enforcement Center to its facility.
Chiefís concern
For Quiring, the change will mean a budget adjustment and a new look at staffing.
From February 2003 through January of 2004, Forest Lake delivered 50 intoxicated persons for care at DCRC.
The 24-mile trip to Stillwater takes 34 minutes one-way, meaning a round-trip to the jail requires a little over one hour for the Forest Lake police. That has significantly increased under the new Dakota County pact.
The 48-mile drive to Hastings will take just under one hour. For trips to Hastings, a Forest Lake officer will be off the streets for at least two hours, Quiring said.
Quiring says there is no perfect solution to the problem. He says the police will continue to place intoxicated individuals in custody if it is clear they are a danger to themselves or others.
For now, the chief says he is looking at staffing patterns with the goal of finding a way to overlap shifts with a third officer. But with a growing department and a city tight on budget dollars, extra staff may be hard to shake free, he says.
ìWeíve been pretty conservative,î Quiring said.
Although many of the calls that end up with an intoxicated person going to detox happen during busy hours, not all do, the chief said. Calls to domestic incidents can come at any time, he says, and on occasion police will get a call from an individual who has realized a need for some form of commitment.
ìSome will call as a way to get off the booze,î he says.
Detoxification is a state-mandated service that is paid for by tax levy dollars, health plans, and fees charged to recipients of the service.
The budget for this service in 2003 was $414,000, and Washington County received $135,000 from health plans and recipients.
Other than the time and expense committed to taking an intoxicated person into custody and transporting them, the city has no direct financial obligation for time in detox. And itís time and miles that worry Quiring the most.
Top of Page
