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Tight budgets, changing populations, new technology and even new attitudes about public safety are making many communities in outstate Minnesota change their approach to safety, security and the law.

Although rural crime rates are lower than those in urban areas, public safety takes a big share of local government budgets outstate. So it has come under scrutiny in a time of fiscal restraint. At the same time, in areas where populations are dwindling and aging, security concerns can change. Telecommunications, surveillance and other technology are changing how law enforcement deals with safety. And for some, what is needed is a greater sense of personal responsibility when it comes to their safety.

This special Ground Level news report explores how new approaches to old problems are offering both hope and new dilemmas.

Ground Level Features
Disbanded police

Budget crunch forces cities and counties to rethink policing

Bird Island is home to just over 1,000 people. To save tax dollars, it disbanded its police department at the end of June and now contracts for law enforcement with the sheriff's office.
Rural Swat

Shoestring collaboration with dreams of robots

Making do is a recurrent theme for the team of 16 officers, deputies, sheriffs and chiefs from a range of western Minnesota law enforcement agencies making up the West Central S.W.A.T.
 Wellness Court

Unique court lets tribal and state judges fight addiction together

The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has joined with two northern Minnesota counties to create a "wellness court" that for the first time is letting tribal and district court judges act together to handle addiction and substance abuse.
Emergency response

Combined response to a hazardous waste spill in the middle of the night

A situation tailor made to overwhelm the emergency services of a small town turned into a model of local, state and even federal cooperation. Sometimes Homeland Security money does more than fight terrorism.
 Video surveillance expansion

Video expands Duluth police force

Their budget under pressure, Duluth police have turned to video camera surveillance to fight crime. They say it works. But they aren't cheap.
 Drones

Police see drones as cheap eye in the sky

Many law enforcement officials think airborne drones can make life safer, but the technology scares some.
 Telepresence Court

In sparsely-populated districts, TV hearings save money

District Judge Jerry Seibel rides a circuit to preside over cases throughout western Minnesota. Increasingly, that means turning on the TV and manning a remote control.
 Rural Security

Rural security firm stands guard over empty farms and cabins

One Minnesota business is experiencing a boom because more farms stand empty and farmers feel the need to provide their own security.
 Polk County

Town saves money on cops, wonders if it did right

Like an increasing number of Minnesota towns, Fertile relies on the county sheriff for law enforcement. Some residents worry more about safety.

Rural crime characteristics

Rural domestic violence: Dangerous for victims, complicated for police

MPR's The Daily Circuit takes a closer look at rural domestic violence; taking a closer look at the way domestic violence plays out in rural communities.

Rural crime Q and A

We asked Ralph A. Weisheit, a criminal justice professor at Illinois State University, and Joseph F. Donnermeyer, professor of rural sociology at Ohio State University, about rural crime and what is unique about it.

Ground Level Video

Guard Llamas in Park Rapids

Police Drone Discussion

Examine the data

Why does Minnesota's handgun permit map look like this?

The concentration of handgun permits is much higher in northeastern Minnesota than in southwestern Minnesota, a distribution pattern common to many phenomena in the state. Why is that?

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