Turtle River Twp residents form unit to fight crime

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 22, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

TURTLE RIVER -- Criminals beware: The residents of Turtle River Township are watching you.

With few resources -- nothing more than a couple of donations and some old-fashioned human resolve -- a handful of residents here have created their own crime watch unit that will aid sheriff's deputies in patrolling this rural township northeast of Bemidji.

Organized much like Bemidji's volunteer citizens patrol, but less equipped, the volunteer crime watch drivers will patrol rural areas in the township -- armed with nothing more than a magnetic sign stating "Turtle River Crime Watch" attached to their vehicle and a desire to keep their neighborhood safe.

In fact, the upstart citizen group -- believed to be the first township crime watch organized in Beltrami County -- doesn't even have the cellular phones Bemidji's volunteer force receives.

Thursday night the group's officials held an informational meeting for township residents, the Sheriff's Department and reporters. About 10 people and two sheriff's deputies attended the meeting.

"We've come a long way in this short time," Clint Braaten, president, said at the meeting. "But hopefully we can get more drivers and more people involved now."

Organizer Lisa Olson said the group consists of six drivers who have volunteered to patrol their respective parts of the township, but the watch is equipped to support 10 drivers. Areas such as the Big Bass Lake neighborhood are not being patrolled, so the group hopes to find more volunteers soon.

Braaten said the group mainly patrols rural, out-of-the-way roads looking for suspicious activity, and if they spot something, the phone the sheriff's office. The group will also perform home security checks for residents who are on vacation or gone during winter months.

In the future, the group hopes to crack down on beer parties in the township and maybe even equip the patrol with photography equipment so they may catch criminals in the act.

The group has no authority to arrest anybody, Braaten said, but the drivers could block a road to hamper a criminal's getaway if they though something was happening.

"Yeah, I could get in a high-speed chase, if it doesn't go over 55 (mph)," volunteer driver Chuck Bennington said in jest. "My (four-wheel drive) doesn't go over 55."

The crime watch received start-up funds from the Turtle River Town Board and also a donation from a food-share program that operates in the township.

The money was used to buy supplies for the drivers and to reimburse the drivers for gas used when patrolling. Each driver is equipped with an area phone book, bandages, paper toweling, a flashlight, township map, note pads, a copy of the Minnesota Good Samaritan Law, home security check waivers, mileage sheets and crime watch identification cards.

So far, volunteer drivers have been out with the crime watch signs sparingly, but Braaten said people have noticed -- especially kids who give the patrol "funny" reactions.

"I was up in Tenstrike the other day, and a couple of people put their seat belts on when they saw my care," Braaten said. "I don't know if they thought I was going to pull them over, or what."

Deputy Terri Gunsalus, who attend the meeting Thursday, said she was excited to see the organization operating.

"It would be great if every township had this. (Deputies) can't be here all the time," she said. "Your eyes looking for something is better for us because we spend so much time out in the county."

The group's main organizer, Braaten, said he saw how effective the program worked in New Mexico -- where he lives during the winter -- and wanted to implement it here. However, no crime spree or one specific incident in the township triggered the group to organize.

"Virtually, our crime rate in Turtle River Township has been low, but why let it build?" he said. "It's a preventative idea. Let's push (the criminals) out of our township."