Mayor Mike Huether says don’t compare Heritage Park to Van Eps when it comes to police calls. Numerous factors come into play when you break down the numbers.

In June, Sioux Falls Police responded to 61 calls, which is quite a spike compared to the average. The normal amount is around 10.

Potential solutions are coming from many quarters, but Mayor Huether says the city’s goal is to get in front of the problem. “The right thing to do is to be proactive in your efforts.

“It’s not to arrest people. It’s to identify issues proactively and if they occur, we’re going to take care of it.” Alcohol is already banned in Heritage Park which was not the case in Van Eps before the city instituted a ban in 2014.

Huether says linking the two parks in that way is misguided. “I really struggle with the whole Heritage Park discussion and how it’s turned into ‘Let’s compare one versus the other.’ There’s no comparison. What was going on (in 2014) at Van Eps Park, there is nothing even close to that happening anywhere in our great city.”

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