It’s just about rally time, and the city of Sturgis is ready to play its part. With hundreds of thousands of people ready to bear down on the Black Hills, there are human costs to consider each year.
Pulling off the rally is something of a herculean task for the small city of Sturgis – albeit one that has put the community on the map across the country.
Geody VanDewater is the chief of the Sturgis Police Department. He said it’s not all motorcycles and full wallets during rally time.
“It’s a difference of night and day," VanDewater said. "We go from running from call to call on a typical day to the rally where it’s just controlled chaos. We’re a town of 7,000 and we boost up from anywhere to 200,000 to 400,000, so we run in emergency mode basically for 10 days.”
Crowd management becomes a major front of that battle, especially with relaxed open containers regulations slated to return this year.
“We try to gear up staffing and all the intel that goes with that – hiring people not only for law enforcement positions but also, we handle some civilian security positions," VanDewater said. "Trying to get people hired, trying to get people up and ready, and making sure our equipment is up and running.”
On the other hand, more serious crimes that can slip by unnoticed in an ocean of people. VanDewater said they want to make as many resources available as they can to keep people safe.
“We’d rather look into whatever the issue is and find out it was nothing than something that potentially could have been a human trafficking case or a drunk driving case where someone gets killed or extremely injured," VanDewater said. "It is a reality, and it is happening whether we see it, or we don’t.”
Further, state and federal law enforcement are planning on assisting investigations of suspected human trafficking and incidents of violence during the Rally.
This year's rally runs from Aug. 3 through Aug. 13.