BURNSVILLE, Minn. — Two days after two Burnsville police officers and one firefighter/paramedic were shot and killed in the line of duty, their vehicles remain parked at city hall collecting flowers and tributes from the public.
As that memorial collection builds, a collective effort from neighboring departments is working to ensure the the department has space and the public remains safe.
"We want to make sure that we're taking their day-to-day duties off their plates," said Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko. "So they can grieve and they can be with the people that they need to be with."
Sheriff Leko says his office, along with the 10 other police departments in the county, are covering everything from Burnsville's day-to-day patrols and investigations to any SWAT calls that might come in. In addition, they are also offering 24/7 security and procession support for the fallen, who they are grieving themselves.
"The incident will impact beyond the walls of Burnsville," Leko said. "It's through the entire profession and the entire state."
And it doesn't stop there.
"Lots of sadness to go around," said Scott Knudson, Sheriff of St Croix County, Wisconsin.
Knudson knows exactly how much that support matters. In May of 2023, it was St. Croix deputies who needed that space to grieve following the death of deputy Kaitie Leising, who was shot and killed by a suspected drunk driver.
"For the week after (she was killed), we did wellness check-ins, debriefs, family debriefs, family wellness check ins because it's a group survival," Knudson said. "And that's families included."
Sheriff Knudson says that process was healing, in part, because they were familiar with mental health and wellness check ins before that tragedy, and that's something that is also true in Burnsville. In 2023, KARE 11 profiled the wellness program, which had just introduced a brand new emotional support puppy as well.
Sheriff Knudson: "I think it is laying the groundwork, prior to an event happening, that really gets you through it."
Kent Erdahl: "How much are you checking in this week?"
Sheriff Knudson: "Our peer support team has been reaching out to people, I've been calling. To discuss those... those tough conversations, 'How are we feeling? Is our head in the game? Are we able to get back out there? Are we able to head to a domestic with our head in the game, with our head on a swivel, and still remember what our goal, what our mission and what our duty is?'"
Those are also questions shared throughout the region, at a time when departments are already stretched thin.
"Everybody that is short, everybody that is having those staffing challenges," said Sheriff Leko. "People are stepping up. They're just coming in and doing it. If it's their days off, they're just coming in and doing it. We make it work. It hits you at different times, but our own therapy, at times is working and helping people and so people are jumping at that opportunity."
And when it comes to that therapy, at a time like this, both sheriff's say don't look past that collection of flowers and tributes from the public either.
"They need to see that," Leko said. "That helps them grieve, that helps our people, first responders, know that they have support behind them, and that they're not alone."
"That community support, people will never realize how important that is for us — as an agency — to get through this," Knudson said. "When the citizens step up, we know our losses are not in vain."
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