John Shilts said he’s seen enough.

Concerned that the presence of dangerous narcotics at a popular music festival undermines local efforts to beat back drug use, the St. Croix County Sheriff is calling for an end to the popular event.

“It goes against everything we stand for,” Shilts said Friday of the four-day Summer Set Music & Camping Festival, held Aug. 13-16 at Somerset Amphitheater.

The festival draws tens of thousands of visitors from around the region and the country, where revelers enjoy an eclectic blend of music at the outdoor event.

But Shilts said the festival, which marked its third year this month in Somerset, also attracts an unsettling number of attendees looking to use and distribute hallucinogenic drugs.

This year there were 39 arrests that led to state-level charges in the Somerset area while the festival was in town, according to St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office figures. More than 20 of those arrests were for drug possession, while 10 were for disorderly conduct.

The figures do not include municipal-level citations. Somerset Police Chief Tom Sirovatka said last week that those statistics were not yet available.

Shilts said he would be submitting a letter to the Somerset Village Board articulating his concerns with the festival and calling for it to be shut down.

“I don’t think that the village should continue to issue the permit,” he said.

Somerset Village Board President John Melvin did not return calls Monday and Tuesday seeking comment on Shilts’ remarks.

Shilts does not have the authority to shut down the event. The Village of Somerset issues the permit and gives Somerset police the ability to shut it down, Shilts said.

Sirovatka did not return calls placed Monday and Tuesday seeking comment on the sheriff’s announcement about the festival.

News of the sheriff’s request came as a surprise to Scott Dennison, director of risk for the promoter of the event, SFX Entertainment. He described a “great working relationship” among SFX security, the sheriff’s office, Somerset police and emergency services staff.

“I thought it went very well,” he said of this year’s festival, at which he was present.

Dennison said he was planning to meet this week with sheriff’s office officials, as well as the Somerset Police Department.

Shilts said his beef isn’t with the locally-based Somerset Amphitheater, but rather with the festival itself. He said he has no problem with other events and concerts held at the venue.

Somerset Amphitheater owner Matt Mithun was not able to be reached for comment for the story, but Shilts said he spoke with him on Monday about the situation.

“He absolutely understands where I’m coming from,” the sheriff said, acknowledging that Mithun and his staff attempt to mitigate drug issues at the venue. “He certainly tries.”

The amphitheater plays host to several events over the course of the summer, ranging from challenge-course foot races to a heavy-metal concert festival to a cowgirl competition.

But as for the Summer Set festival?

“Pick a different one,” Shilts said.

Provisions of the permit require the amphitheater to foot the bill for all services provided by public authorities.

The sheriff said his biggest concern is that local drug prevention and treatment efforts compete with the perception that drug-packing concertgoers attend the festival, which brings with it a financial infusion to St. Croix County.

Dennison agreed that dollars follow the festival.

“We bring significant tax revenues to the city and the county,” he said. “[It’s] surprising they would want to shut it down.”

But Shilts said that sends a mixed message to the community and its young people.

“It comes down to, ‘What is morally right?’” the sheriff said.

Shilts said that while the festival in no way promotes drug use, there is an understanding that drugs are expected to show up wherever the festival goes.

“They know full well that it’s coming,” he said, listing LSD and MDMA - known on the street as Ecstasy or Molly - as drugs of choice at the event.

The St. Croix Valley Drug Task Force confiscated 1,537 LSD hits and 47 grams of MDMA, along with 265 MDMA capsules during this year’s Summer Set event, according to sheriff’s department data. Task force members also took in 26 grams of ketamine, 22 grams of cocaine and 43 grams of marijuana.

Shilts said the fact that drug-sniffing K-9s are part of a checkpoint for all entrants at the festival is evidence that it’s a problem. The level of screening is remarkable, Shilts said, and “like you would see at our nation’s border.”

Dennison said security protocols at Summer Set are among “the most robust systems in the country.”

Shilts praised this year’s “core security” handled by New York City-based promoter SFX Entertainment. The festival’s terms and conditions include an extensive list of prohibited items, behaviors and a zero-tolerance drug policy.

But Shilts said a secondary security company subcontracted to help at the festival provided a “ridiculous” level of service.

Shilts said workers from that outfit were seen marking vehicles lined up to enter as having been searched when they weren’t.

“Since the requirement to be searched is something the hosts of the event require, we did not intervene as we have no authority in the matter,” Shilts said.

He also complained that workers on four-wheel vehicles stopped and interfered with Hwy. I traffic.

“In my opinion, they did a horrible job,” Shilts said of the subcontracted security crew.

He admitted that efforts have been made to improve security since the event first came to Somerset in 2013, though problems linger.

“We’re not getting to that point,” he said.

Sirovatka said earlier last week that he was struck this year by the number of medical calls. According to the sheriff’s office, authorities responded to 40 separate EMS-related calls for service during the concert weekend.

“It went not as expected,” Sirovatka said, naming heat exhaustion as the primary issue. “You can prepare for the heat, but you can never prepare for how many people it’s going to affect.”

This year’s festival included a momentarily tumultuous incident on Sunday, Aug. 16, after it was announced that the concert would be suspended with potentially severe weather moving into the area.

Sirovatka said “quite a large group” became upset with the announcement, which urged attendees to ride out the storm in their tents and vehicles. He said descriptions by others familiar with the incident of a near-riot were not accurate.

“It was mitigated,” the chief said.

The concert resumed after an all-clear was given for the weather and no further incidents arose, the chief said.