U.S. Senator Steve Daines joined local law enforcement, elected officials and a district judge to tour the Billings Police Departmentâs evidence facility Friday to talk about concerning levels of crime in the region.
Daines sat down with Billings city administrator Chris Kukulski, Police Chief Rich St. John, County Commissioner John Ostlund, Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder, County Attorney Scott Twito, District Judge Mary Jane Knisely, and director of the stateâs Department of Corrections Brian Gootkin.
The focus of the conversation was on rapidly increasing crime rates, drugs like methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl and the impacts those issues have on the community. The consensus among the group being that crime, drug use and violent crime are out of control and pose a serious threat to the communityâs safety and economy.
Updated: 9:51 PM EDT April 28, 2021
HARRISBURG, Pa. Even as vaccines become available in prisons and county jails, a majority of inmates are choosing not to get one.
Jails are known as COVID-19 hotspots where the virus can spread through communal spaces and shared cells.
Yet at Lancaster and Dauphin County Prisons, which both held their first vaccine clinic this week, only about one quarter of inmates volunteered to be vaccinated.
At Lancaster County Prison, 163 of the nearly 700 inmates got vaccinated on Tuesday, according to Warden Cheryl Steberger.
At Dauphin County Prison, about 220 people signed up but only 150 people ended up getting vaccinated on Wednesday out of more than 900 inmates, according to Director of Corrections Brian Clark.