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.
BILLINGS - Billings crime rate was on the rise in 2020 and seems to only be getting worse. The thing that comes to the forefront is our methamphetamine problem,â Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said. âWhere you have drugs you have violence, and we have both here in Billings.
With the City Council, a passing vote on the public safety mill levy could eventually put increasing police funding on the ballot. Really, any time we could find some sort of solution that we could add resources to the police department and public safety, and in general, is a good thing,â Chief St. John said. âUnfortunately, the only way we can do that is to go to the voters. We are really very limited in the alternatives to generate additional revenue.
“We’ve been space sparse for a long time and we knew we had to expand to provide the services this community demands of us," said Lenette Kosovich, Rimrock CEO to a small crowd at the ribbon-cutting.
BILLINGS, Mont. - The Billings City Council will listen to presentations from departments in the city, including Billings Police and Billings Fire, as they begin planning the 2022 budget. The