A Converstation With Sioux Falls Police Officer Sam Clemens

As a news reporter I cover the daily media briefings at the Sioux Falls Law Enforcement Center. It’s an opportunity for us to get the most current information on crimes here in Sioux Falls.  Since 2008, Sam Clemens has served as the Police Information Officer. Sam, who started as a police officer 15 years ago, says he’s always been interested in law enforcement.

“It started back for me back in high school. I was just fascinated with law enforcement in general. That’s obviously the direction I took. Right now, I primarily deal with the Sioux Falls media on a daily basis---just trying to be as open and transparent with the police department. Our goal is to get as much information about crimes to the public.”

When a crime takes place, Sam gathers the information and shares it at the daily media briefings.

“I will actually do a report that covers all the reports the officers prepared the previous day or over the weekend. I’ll read the reports and answer questions at the media briefings.  We do that at 10:30 AM Monday to Friday. I try to be on top of the crimes as much as I can. There are a many times when I have to do a follow up or an interview later in the day.”

After years of hosting the daily media briefings, Sam says thefts are by far the most common crimes in Sioux Falls.

“Quite often the vandalisms take place because of unlocked cars, open garages or open houses. Most of the break-ins take place over the summer. It’s a crime of opportunity. We have people that are out there that know when a garage is open or know when a purse or valuables are left in the car with the doors unlocked,” Clemens told me. “Thieves will take anything of value. That’s what we tell the residents: lock your car and house. Make sure your garage door is closed. That’s the best way to keep your property safe. We do have crimes when someone would break a window to gain access to a house. But, it’s really a lot less compared with a thief getting into an unlocked car or house. I think people are used to Sioux Falls being a safe community and perhaps don’t take precautions to protect their property. We don’t have a lot of big crime. At the same time, we do have a number of smaller type crimes. Unfortunately, some folks don’t think it will happen to them---until it does.”

Since I’ve been covering the police briefings, I have learned that alcohol plays a major role in assaults that seem to happen on a regular basis.

“Especially the bigger crimes---alcohol is pretty prevalent. Sometimes it might be just a gathering of people and an argument starts---things get out of hand.  Other times it could be a bad beef or someone is using alcohol and becomes violent.”

Is crime on the increase in Sioux Falls?

“I think there’s been more focus on the media covering these different crimes. Certainly the bigger crimes are publicized. If you look at our crime rates over the past ten years, there has been an increase. But, it’s not terribly substantial. If you’re looking year to year, there has been a small growth. The crime rate in 2014 compared with 2013 was almost the same. You have some different high profile crimes that get a lot of attention. That makes people think there’s a lot more crime than there actually is.”