Break-in spurs
more security
Staff writers
A new $26,000 security system with live video linked to sheriff’s dispatchers is being considered after repeated break-ins at the county road and bridge department’s south shops near Aulne.
“When you lose $8,000 to $12,000 a time, that’s not much,” engineer Brice Goebel told commissioners Monday.
Tools, chainsaws, and welding torches are among the items that have been stolen, Goebel said.
“This is the second or third time it’s been hit since I’ve been here,” said Goebel, who joined the department in 2019.
In the most recent break-in, burglars entered by kicking in a door.
“I have never seen so much damage on a steel door. Man, it’s crazy,” Goebel said. “They took all the torch stuff. We were fortunate enough to get most of the tools back last time, though not all of them.”
Goebel said he does not yet have a complete list of items stolen, but told commissioner Monday the department might have to spend $20,000 on replacement tools if the sheriff’s office does not recover the stolen goods.
The new security system would include 360-degree cameras inside and outside and possibly a keypad system for disarming it.
The sheriff’s office has not yet released any reports on the latest break-in nor has the return of previously stolen items been explained.
Commissioners took no action on Goebel’s suggestions for a security system. However, they did meet behind closed doors after hearing from him with their computer security contractor, Lloyd Davies of Great Plains Computers and Networking.
Goebel told commissioners he had conferred with both Davies and the county’s Abilene-based security guard firm, S.D. Security.