The Sioux Falls City Council will vote on an ordinance to increase the city’s police budget by about $50,000 for an advertisement campaign to raise awareness about locking vehicles, but some council members are debating adding tips on how to properly secure firearms.
Council members Sarah Cole and Marshall Selberg co-sponsored the ordinance, focused solely on encouraging the public to lock their cars through advertisements on TV, radio and billboards.
Cole presented it to the council. It aims to combat theft. Larceny has increased by about 29% in the last five years and the number of stolen cars has doubled, according to Cole.
Council member Pat Starr argued that the campaign should go beyond educating people about securing vehicles, because firearms inside the vehicles also cause problems. He said that he intends to bring forth an amendment to add awareness on how to properly secure guns to the campaign.
“Cars get stolen, but the real issue here is the thing that we’re struggling with as a community is people who leave firearms unattended and unsecured in an unlocked car,” Starr said. “That firearm then becomes used at another crime, and people shoot at each other, and they shoot at our police department.”
In opposition to Starr, Selberg said this issue should remain focused on locking cars because this will prevent anyone from gaining access to a firearm inside.
Council member Greg Neitzert also opposed the idea of including anything about firearms in the campaign. He voiced concerns that the city would need to be careful about the legality.
“We can educate and tell people ‘put your guns away.' But we have to be careful about ordinances because state law says no municipality may create an ordinance that regulates firearms,” Neitzert said.
Starr has some support on the council. Council member Curt Soehl agreed educating people on safely securing guns should be part of the campaign. He said he supports that effort in addition to the effort to create a campaign on locking car doors.
Sioux Falls Police Chief Jonathon Thum told the council that both topics are important.
“We want to cover the broad spectrum of what we’re talking about, which is vehicles and securing your valuables and securing your cars,” Thum said. “Obviously, guns fall into that as well. And how we message it, we don’t want this to become only a gun conversation, but we want that to be part of the conversation.”
According to Thum, the Sioux Falls Police Department has seen the number of stolen vehicles trending downward so far this year.
Cole said she needs more details before deciding whether to support an amendment to the ordinance she is sponsoring.
The council voted unanimously to have a second reading of the ordinance on June 20.
