SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- There were two prominent items in Mayor Paul TenHaken's proposed budget last week regarding law enforcement.
One was the request for five new police officers and a sergeant. The other concerned more money for "civil disturbance equipment."
KELO.com News asked Sioux Falls Police Chief Matt Burns what was behind the two requests.
Burns says the City is not expecting any civil disturbances. But neither were officials in Ferguson, Missouri or in North Dakota for the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. He says the City needs to be ready, just in case.
So, what is "civil disturbance equipment"?
"It is non-lethal," Burns said. "There's some requests in there for some dispersal, a munitions chemical, very standard, things like that. We're just trying to make sure that we have an adequate supply should something happen."
As to the additional officers and sergeant, Burns says that's due to the continuing growth of the city.
"The administration came early on and said, 'What are the needs?'," Burns said. "We applied the metrics as we do every year as far as how many officers there are per civilian, how many square miles are in the city, and we're north of 78 (square miles) now."
Click above to listen to the full interview.