On Wednesday, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-MT) held a press briefing with law enforcement officials about investments in Montana’s public safety.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, I want to thank everybody for being here, all of our partners in law enforcement,
00:05both at the federal level and at the state and local.
00:09We just appreciate it.
00:11And I have to say, the primary responsibility of government is public safety.
00:18And that's what we're here to talk about.
00:20And we need to keep Montanans safe in their homes and in their communities.
00:25And the reality is we have rising crime.
00:27We're going to hear more from the sheriff and the chief about what they're seeing here
00:31in Yellowstone County and in Billings.
00:35But it's a direct correlation with what we had seen in the open border policies of the
00:40Biden administration.
00:41We're still doing cleanup.
00:43Let's be clear.
00:45Our law enforcement officers are on the front line every single day.
00:50And we owe it to them to make sure that they have the resources they need to stay safe
00:55and get the job done.
00:57We're seeing not only more crime, but also more drugs.
01:01We know that's also a direct result of the open border policy.
01:05As I said, law enforcement needs the resources to get the job done.
01:09We can't.
01:10And even if we can't, when we apprehend criminals, we need a place to put them.
01:19And if we don't, it puts an undue burden on the county and the local government.
01:23And that's why we've made it a priority in our budget that's currently in front of the
01:27legislature to make sure we add the resources that are necessary.
01:31I'll just note a couple of things, and I don't want to give the time to our collaborators
01:36here.
01:37We need to expand capacity at our state prison.
01:40That's why we added $150 million to add 500 beds there so we have the capacity to make
01:47sure violent criminals are locked up.
01:50We also added $250 million to develop and execute a long-term plan to keep criminals
01:58off the street here in Montana.
02:00We added $6.5 million to better support our correctional officers to make sure that we
02:06have folks that can maintain our prisons.
02:11We also included pay raises for Montana Highway Patrol to make sure that they're paid properly
02:17for the important work that they do.
02:20These investments are significant.
02:23They span the range of public safety and corrections.
02:27They address immediate needs.
02:30And they also plan for the future with long-term investments.
02:32So I'm very pleased to support these in the budget.
02:35I'm hopeful these will all get to my desk.
02:38But I want to make this real.
02:40Law enforcement is a collaboration, as I mentioned at the beginning, between our federal partners,
02:45state and local.
02:47And first, if you don't mind, Sheriff, if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about
02:53the situation here in Yellowstone County and what it would mean to have more capacity in
02:57Deer Lodge as you do your work.
03:01Thank you, Governor.
03:02So we talked a little bit about it before the Governor got here.
03:05And we were talking about the capacity of our local facilities, whether it be here in
03:10Yellowstone County, whether it be Great Falls, whether it be any of the, especially the larger
03:14jails around the state.
03:16And we're all busting at the seams.
03:18A lot of this has to do with the capacity of the state prison because many of the people
03:24that we're holding would otherwise be at the state.
03:28And so it's affecting a lot of our jails.
03:30So I'm here to support the Governor's initiative and his push to get these programs here through
03:37the budget and to support and work with our local legislators to encourage them to go
03:48along with what's being proposed in the budget bill.
03:52Very important to us.
03:53Very important to public safety.
03:54Very important to our community and the citizens in our community.
03:58So Governor, thank you.
03:59Okay.
04:00Thank you, Sheriff.
04:01Chief St. John.
04:03Do you want to share your thoughts about what you're seeing here in Billings?
04:06Certainly.
04:07Thank you, Governor.
04:08And welcome, everybody, to our facility.
04:10We had a very productive, robust discussion prior to the Governor's arrival, which really
04:18reiterated what the Sheriff had talked about.
04:21Locally, we're not going to see any of this money specifically.
04:26But the ripple effects, local, state, and federal, will be pronounced.
04:33Because what we're talking about is anything we do in the justice system, whether you take
04:38something away, whether you add something, makes a difference and affects the entire
04:44system.
04:45So adding capacity to the prison will affect positively our population here at the detention
04:52facility.
04:54Adding correction officers will improve safety for not only the inmates, but for staff, and
05:01help with retention and recruiting at that level.
05:04And so, again, it just transcends across the entire system.
05:10The one thing that will be most helpful for us, going into the end of 24, the total number
05:19of arrests that the Billings Police Department had, 60% were for warrants, revocations, suspended
05:29sentences, people that are already in the system.
05:31They're not new offenses.
05:34And these are the individuals that are tying up the system, re-offending, causing issues
05:40that if we can create capacity at all levels, it will certainly benefit the community.
05:46And I certainly support the Governor's plan.
05:50Everything that's laid out here, again, will ripple effect down to the locals.
05:54And so we thank him, and hopefully the legislature will fall in line with that as well.
06:00Thank you, Chief.
06:02Katie Weston is the warden at the women's prison.
06:04Can you share just what the increase in pay for the correctional officers will mean and
06:09how that will help you do your job?
06:11Absolutely.
06:12The pay increase for correctional officers is incredibly valuable.
06:16It allows us to operate a safe facility for both staff and for inmates.
06:20It's invaluable that we're able to provide an environment that will be both positive
06:26for staff and for inmates.
06:28And also, we're grateful to the Governor for allowing that to pass through, but also for
06:32prioritizing the prison capacity and increased pay.
06:36Great.
06:39Warden.
06:40And County Attorney Scott Twito.
06:42Thank you very much, Governor.
06:43Appreciate the opportunity.
06:47The Governor's plan is an incredible investment for law enforcement, and I want to make sure
06:51that I speak to my constituents here in Yellowstone County to tell you exactly how it's going
06:56to positively affect law enforcement.
06:58As a county attorney, I'm in the unique position that I work with all these partners to try
07:02to take bad people off the streets.
07:05And it's frustrating for the boots on the ground when they make an arrest that they
07:09can't put them in the detention facility.
07:12And most of my constituents know we've really struggled with the jail.
07:16With the Governor increasing capacity in the prison, it will allow us to move people
07:21out of our jail into the state prison where these violent offenders belong, and give space
07:26for those officers to make successful arrests to protect you.
07:31So I hope that if you take anything away from this, it is this will affect you locally.
07:37This helps all our law enforcement partners.
07:39This will help me prosecute the bad people.
07:42And this is something that you need to get behind.
07:44I hope the legislature follows the Governor's lead and takes this up and understands how
07:50important this is for local law enforcement and local and statewide public safety.
07:56Thank you, sir.
07:57Yep.
07:58Well, again, we talked about the importance of this to the local to Yellowstone County
08:02as well as billings, but really statewide.
08:05We have thousands of warrants that haven't been served because we don't have jail capacity.
08:10We need to get violent criminals off the street.
08:11So thank you for being here.
08:13We'd be happy to take a few questions.
08:15Yes, Governor, there has been over the course of the last couple of years, Montana state
08:23inmates being sent through private prison contractors out of state to Mississippi and
08:28Arizona.
08:29Do you anticipate that expanding the jail capacity at the state prison could lower the
08:34number of inmates that are sent out of state?
08:37Yeah, we we have been forced to set use out of state beds.
08:43Because we don't have enough beds in Deer Lodge or here in Billings.
08:47So it's certainly going to take the pressure off it as as our partners in law enforcement
08:54work to get violent criminals off the street.
08:56We need a place to put them.
08:58And we're out of beds in Deer Lodge.
09:00And that's why we prioritize the expansion there.
09:02And we're breaking ground.
09:05But the next step is to increase the capacity.
09:08So that's what this funding is all about.
09:10Good.
09:11Other questions?
09:12Yeah.
09:13Governor, just address to the situation with women's prison as well.
09:21How does this affect I know there's been talk about actually needing another location.
09:25How does this affect that?
09:26Does it have any effect at all?
09:28Yeah, there's funding in here for expansion of the women's prison, but it doesn't endorse
09:33a specific plan.
09:35The Department of Corrections is still working through options.
09:40And we're looking at where that might go.
09:42That has not been finalized.
09:43But this bill appropriates the money for whatever the Department of Corrections concludes is
09:49the best solution for additional beds.
09:52Yeah.
09:53Yes.
09:54In the memo you sent to us all yesterday, it said something about a $250 million plan
10:01to fund and develop a long term plan to improve public safety.
10:05Can you give specifics about that, what that might look like?
10:08Well, that money is in there.
10:10And this is a project we'll undertake both with the Department of Corrections as well
10:15as our law enforcement officers.
10:18A chunk of that money, I understand, is for this women's prison expansion.
10:23But we don't have a specific plan just yet.
10:25We need the input from all of our partners to figure out the specifics.
10:28But because our legislature only meets every two years, we didn't want to wait another
10:32two years to appropriate the money.
10:34So they've given us the authority to do the work to figure out what the right solution
10:39is.
10:40Anything else?
10:41Yes.
10:42I have another question.
10:43So as looking to expand the capacity of the women's prison potential too, I know in Billings
10:46we've seen a rise of youth crime and youth offenders.
10:47Do we have enough capacity to hold youths who are committing crime?
10:48And what could we do if we need to expand that?
11:02So the Department of Corrections is committing to increasing that capacity as well.
11:06And as such, we have turned the Pine Hills facility into a youth-only facility, which
11:11will help all of our partners that are standing up here.
11:15Good.
11:16Thank you, everybody.