Challenges and Opportunities

Community Trust and Transparency

In today’s world of constant information and social media, it’s important that Dakota County residents know what their Sheriff’s Office is doing and how we serve the community. Transparency builds trust, accountability, and stronger relationships with the people we serve.

That’s why we created a public Transparency Page and launched the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office mobile app—putting important information at your fingertips. Through these platforms, residents can access policies and programs, jail demographics, use-of-force data, calls for service, crime trends, and real-time drug overdose reporting.

Sheriff Leko builds community trust through transparency providing agency data and information.

I also encourage you to listen to our “Raising the Bar” podcast on YouTube or under the Media tab on our website, where we highlight the work of our staff and discuss important public safety topics.

You deserve to know how your law enforcement agency is serving you—and as your Sheriff, I’m committed to making sure you do.

Illegal Drugs

The infiltration of illegal drugs in our communities continue to have a profound impact on overall crime and public health in Dakota County. For nearly seven years, I had the opportunity to work drug investigations and now as Sheriff, I am a member of the North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Executive Board – a partnership with local, state, and federal agencies across Minnesota and Wisconsin to investigate and dismantle high level drug organizations. We are seizing record amounts of highly addictive and deadly fentanyl across the Twin Cities metro. The impact is an increasing number of people becoming addicted and widespread overdoses across the state. Enforcement alone will not solve our attraction to drugs. We need a holistic approach to reduce the impact of illegal drugs including education, prevention, enforcement, and rehabilitation.

Sheriff Leko brings extensive knowledge, and experience in the education, prevention, and enforcement of illegal drugs in the community.

I bring extensive knowledge, and experience in this area and work collaboratively and aggressively to address the impact of drugs in our community. This threat continues to be a high priority.

Mental Health Response and Inmate Care

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 5 adults in the United States experienced a mental illness in 2020. Mental Health America estimates that nearly 10% of police contacts involve individuals experiencing some level of mental illness. These situations require more than enforcement—they require communication, de-escalation, compassion, and connecting people with the right resources.

I was instrumental in developing the County's mental health response team, pairing embedded social workers with deputies to respond to and follow up on mental health-related calls—helping connect people with resources and achieve safe outcomes for everyone involved.

Sheriff Leko has proven to be one of the most innovative leaders in the profession. His vision, lobbying, planning, designing, and opening of the SMART Center and the Jail Integrative Health Unit serve as models for others to follow.

In 2018, I played a key role in the lobbying, planning, design, and opening of the SMART Center in Inver Grove Heights, a one-of-a-kind facility providing crisis intervention training for first responders across Minnesota.

Dakota County also became a leader in developing mental health response teams that paired deputies with embedded social workers to respond to and follow up on mental health-related calls, helping improve safety and connect individuals with needed support and services.

On April 10, 2025, we opened a 26-bed Integrative Health Unit in the jail for individuals experiencing mental health conditions, substance use disorders, or physical limitations. This innovative unit is the first of its kind in a Minnesota jail and reflects our continued commitment to improving care, safety, and outcomes.

Technology

Advancements in technology can make our jobs in law enforcement safer, more efficient, and effective. Drones, body-worn cameras, 3D crime scene cameras, a jail body scanner, and License Plate Readers are some of the most recent technologies we brought to the Sheriff’s Office that have improved our ability to serve the community.

Sheriff Leko pioneers cutting edge technology improving efficiencies in operations and keeping the community and deputies safe.

We continue to expand our body-worn cameras throughout the Office since first implemented in 2020. After being awarded a 2022 federal grant for $170,000 we added nearly 80 additional body-worn-cameras beyond our patrol division to deputies in courts, investigations, civil, jail and our park rangers.

Our Sheriff’s Office was the first in the County to utilize drones for documenting crime and accident scenes and searching for lost individuals and fleeing suspects. Drones not only assist in searching for missing persons or suspects, they protect first responders by creating distance and opportunities to safely apprehend persons.

As your Sheriff, I evaluate and when appropriate, utilize cutting edge technology to keep you and our deputies safe while improving efficiencies in our operations.

Employee Wellness

Under my leadership, employee wellness has become a top priority. Our effectiveness as an organization depends on the health and well-being of our staff. We look out for one another and recognize the unique stressors this profession places on the mind, body, and spirit—not only for our employees, but for their families as well.

We are committed to bringing awareness to these challenges, reducing stigma, and providing meaningful support. By investing in the overall wellness of our people, we strengthen our team, our service, and the communities we are honored to protect.

Sheriff Leko espouses a culture where staff openly discuss the impact of trauma and are provided resources and support so that they are physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy.

In 2020, we implemented an early warning system to track when deputies are exposed to traumatic events. This system ensures timely follow-up by peer support members and supervisors, helping us identify when additional care and intervention may be needed.

We have also built a comprehensive employee wellness program that includes a dedicated peer support team. In 2021, we took another important step by introducing mandatory annual wellness visits with a clinical psychologist—reinforcing our commitment to both mental and emotional health.

In 2024, we expanded our efforts further by adding comprehensive cardiovascular testing to help ensure our staff remain healthy—both on the job and at home.