Law-enforcement agencies working way to full staffs
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Libby Police Department are working their way up to a full force, good news in a county that has experienced law-enforcement shortages.
“It’s tough on everyone,” said Capt. Roby Bowe of the sheriff’s office. “We have more call-outs and more overtime.”
The sheriff’s office employs roughly 20 officers, according to Bowe, and had two vacancies up until recently. One deputy will finish field training in a month, Bowe said, and a second officer has been tentatively hired to become the Troy deputy. It will take the newest hire six to seven months to go through the academy and complete field training.
In the meantime, Libby deputies have been scheduled for the Troy area “to be on-call and be noticeable,” Bowe said.
The Libby Police Department was hard-hit last month when two officers and the chief of police resigned in practically the same week. However, two new officers have been hired since then, and interviews for a third officer – paid for through stimulus funding – are expected to occur this week or next week.
The city is still seeking a chief of police as only one applicant surfaced after the first monthlong search. Mayor Doug Roll has partly attributed the low turnout to Libby not being able to compete with wages of larger cities.
The country’s depressed economy may be another factor swaying applicants from moving to a new job, according to Sgt. Duane Bowers of the Montana Highway Patrol. Bowers is down one trooper, meaning that he and three others take calls in all of Lincoln County and as far east as Kalispell – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“In my case I had three people who said they were very interested in coming here,” Bowers said, “but people are hesitant to move with the economy the way it is.”
One of the interested parties just bought a house in Kalispell, Bowers said. The cost of moving coupled with the risk of not being able to sell a home at a reasonable price could be enough to keep people from making a move.
Since a trooper retired about a month ago, Bowers has worked overtime to cover some of the gaps and sometimes schedules Kalispell troopers to cover Lincoln County. Sheriff deputies also help by responding to highway accidents, but must usually wait for a trooper to process the scene.
“It (officer shortage) is really noticeable for HP (highway patrol) being gone because we have to wait longer on accidents,” Bowe said. “Sometimes we have to handle accidents, which we normally wouldn’t do.”
If none of the 250 troopers statewide agree to move to Libby, Bowers may have to wait for a new batch to come out of the academy in April of next year.