Governor Gianforte, Local Officials Partner To Improve Public Safety

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today sat down with local officials, law enforcement officers, and a treatment provider to discuss public safety in Lewis and Clark County.

“Drug-related and violent crimes are making an impact on communities nationwide, including here in Lewis and Clark County,” Governor Gianforte said. “Each community has different needs, and that’s why we’re working with local partners to respond to this crisis with the urgency it requires and protect our communities.”

Since the beginning of the year, Gov. Gianforte has held roundtable discussions on public safety in Big Timber, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Kalispell, and Missoula.

Roundtable participants repeatedly highlighted the importance of community-based services and partnerships in combating the drug epidemic and getting more Montanans clean, sober, and healthy.

“There are so many components to public safety, and I’m glad to see we’re focusing on crime and substance abuse issues with all these partners at the table,” Helena City Attorney Rebecca Dockter said. “This is not something that just one jurisdiction can address. Our approach really has to be multijurisdictional with partnerships on the federal, state and local level.”

With the pandemic triggering a rise in drug-related and violent crime nationwide and in Montana, the governor has been focused on cracking down on criminals and increasing Montanans’ access to recovery and treatment programs.

“Building a safer, stronger Montana will take investments from the state and its local partners, and I’m proud our Budget for Montana Families delivers on that,” Gov. Gianforte continued.

In his recently proposed Budget for Montana Families, Governor Gianforte boosts funding for the HEART Fund by 50 percent, investing in a full continuum of behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment programs for communities.

The governor’s budget also permanently funds eight drug courts across the state which are losing federal funding, and makes a $300-million, generational commitment to Montana’s behavioral health system.

In his first week in office, the governor proposed the HEART Fund (Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment) to increase access to community-based treatment services for non-violent offenders. The governor’s Budget for Montana Families, which was released in mid-November, boosts funding for the HEART Fund by 50 percent.

“From a district court standpoint, we see 95% of our cases have a nexus of drugs or alcohol,” First Judicial District Court Judge Mike McMahon said. “If we can get folks into treatment early, we see better results. Everyone who is at the table understands and appreciates we have an obligation to protect the public and serve others as a community. And it takes working together to do it.”

The governor also introduced the Angel Initiative. A collaborative effort among Governor Gianforte, DPHHS, participating law enforcement entities, and treatment providers, the Angel Initiative allows someone who is struggling with addiction and substance use to go into any participating law enforcement office and receive assistance to get connected with treatment.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton is one of the state’s Angel Initiative partners.

Speaking to rising cases in drug-related crime and human trafficking, Dutton said, “What’s happening on the border is now affecting Lewis and Clark County, and that is fentanyl and human trafficking.”

To combat crime and keep drugs out of Montana communities, the governor worked with Attorney General Austin Knudsen to fund 16 new highway patrol troopers and criminal investigators, as well as six new prosecutors at the Montana Department of Justice, in his budget.

The criminal investigation agents will focus on drug trafficking, human trafficking, narcotics, major crimes, and crimes against children. The new highway patrol troopers will strengthen the state’s drug interdiction programs.

According to the Montana Department of Justice, anti-drug task forces have seized twice as much fentanyl through September 30 of this year than they did the last four years combined.

Participants in the roundtable included Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, YWCA Chief Clinical Director Kim Gardner, First Judicial District Court Judge Mike McMahon, Helena Chief of Police Brett Petty, Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, Helena City Attorney Rebecca Dockter, Jim Anderson from the Department of Corrections, and Isaac Coy from the Department of Public Health and Human Services.