Since the discovery of the Parshall Oil Field in 2006, North Dakota has seen the positive outcomes an oil reservoir can bring. Such outcomes are higher GDP, more available work for the residents of North Dakota and a billion dollar budget surplus. On the reverse side, the growth even in Eastern North Dakota, comes with hitches as well.
“In the early 2000s, there was a big boom in our drugs and that kind of curved off and now we are seeing an increase again now,” West Fargo Detective Derek Cruff said. “With that we are seeing an increase in crime.”
Cruff thinks this increase in drug use and crime are related, in part, to the oil boom. It seems to be caused by an individual’s desire to work as much as possible on the oil rigs, according to the Safety Director for Gateway Building Systems Jason Albertson.
“You’ve got an opportunity for people to work 24 hours a day if they can physically take it,” Albertson said. “So that’s what’s happening and we’re seeing it here in Fargo, the uptick in drug running and all the drugs that are coming to North Dakota through organized crime, through gangs.”
Part of Albertson’s job description is to make sure Gateway Building Systems, a company devoted to create a safer environment for workers on the oil rigs, follows all safety regulations, which includes laws for the Department of Transportation (DOT). For his company, it is especially dangerous if drug use increases.
“We’ve heard from one of our customers that he ran into one of his nephews out there and he was making thousands of dollars a day selling his urine to people who couldn’t pass a drug test,” Albertson said. “I think he was selling it for hundreds of dollars a sample, which presents a whole other problem because now you’re putting people behind DOT vehicles that are under the influence operating Class A vehicles.”
With the increase in crime and drug use, law enforcement officials attempt to match its growth, but sometimes cannot catch it all.
“There’s always preventions going on with our narcotics divisions and guys are working specifically in the drug stuff,” Cruff said. “They are trying to curve and cut-off the sources as it comes in, the only problem is sometimes there’s more sources than we can get shut-off.”
Now, with sources slowly being cut off, the lack of officers needed due to the oil boom in school is another problem. Workers in the oil fields are often bringing their families to towns such as West Fargo because it is safer for their family to live here rather than near the fields, Albertson said. With this growing student population and limited Student Resource Officers (SRO), students find it easier to not get caught while breaking school rules and laws.
“If you’re out with a bunch of friends and the opportunity is right there to commit a small crime by stealing somebody’s bike or by throwing a rock through a window, you’re with a bigger group of kids, there is a higher likely hood that something is going to happen like that,” West Fargo SRO Jason Balvik said.
Even though not all crimes will be caught, the school has a strict policy for what to do if students are found guilty.
“Anytime we find drugs, the school has a policy that the student in possession of it would be suspended for the five days,” Balvik said. “Then law enforcement aspect is depending on what type of drug or paraphernalia that was found would be whatever charge would be appropriate for that crime.”
The local police department is aware of the growing number of students and is continuing to grow alongside the students regularly. They are looking to add another SRO so each school will have their own SRO, except Balvik will still be split between West Fargo and Community High School.
“I mean, it’s a good problem to have that we are growing, but nevertheless it is still a problem and I think that they are going to continue to grow and develop the students and the minds of the students like they have been,” Balvik said. “For security reasons we will just continue to sharpen our skills and do what we can to best protect the students and the staff.”