The Associated Press reported April 23 that booming oil production across a wide expanse of the Northern Plains is forcing law enforcement from the U.S. and Canada to deal with spiking crimes, ranging from drug trafficking and gun offenses to prostitution.
Drug crimes in eastern Montana have more than doubled. Assaults in Dickinson, N.D., have increased fivefold in just two years. And the once-sleepy town of Plentywood, Mont., has seen three assaults with weapons in the past few months — a prospect previously unheard of in the tiny community tucked against the Canada border, AP writer Matthew Brown reported.
The rural region is emerging as one of the top oil producing areas of North America, and the recent kidnapping and brutal murder of Montana teacher Sherry Arnold has drawn more attention to the changes brought on by the rapid pace of drilling.
Officials say up to 30,000 workers could descend on the Bakken oil fields of Montana, North Dakota and Saskatchewan in the next few years,
Others, however, are predicting that North Dakota, alone, will add 35,000 oil jobs during the period.
In the wake of the killing in Sidney, federal prosecutors held a two-day retreat that began April 23 for dozens of police, border agents and other law enforcement to craft a common strategy to deal with rising crime. Two men are in custody in Arnold’s case, which left residents shaken and led to a rise in applications to carry concealed weapons.
The suspects in Arnold’s killing were not employed in the oil and gas industry.
Housing shortage hurts
Sidney is located in the heart of the booming oil fields, its once-quiet streets now jammed with oil company trucks and hotels booked full with workers.
In communities like Sidney and Williston, N.D., assaults, traffic offenses and other crimes are on the rise as drilling accelerates to meet the nation’s strong appetite for domestic fuels.
The situation is exacerbated by a housing shortage that is spurring the construction of sprawling “man-camps” that can accommodate hundreds of out-of-state oil workers, according to the AP report.
Industry representatives say companies go to lengths such as drug tests and background checks to ensure the workers they hire won’t cause trouble — either on the job or in the community.
“We do know there are challenges. Any opportunity has challenges that need to be overcome, and we want to be part of the solution in all this,” said Kari Cutting with North Dakota Petroleum Council.
