Sheriff utilizes community watches Flathead County ranked last in the state for deputy numbers
Flathead County ranks last in the state for how many officers are servicing the county’s 5,200 square miles, usually with four to eight officers. According to Deputy Sheriff Travis Bruyer there should be one officer for every thousand citizens, so in an effort to help Flathead County residents help themselves and others, a series of community watch meetings are being held throughout the county every few months.
“We’re trying to do the best we can with what we have,” Bruyer said. “Look at Hurricane Sandy, there were people displaced and here in Montana we shouldn’t be as reliant on government services. I shouldn’t say ‘hey I brought blankets and water,’ we should already have it.”
Word of mouth brought a group of about 16 residents to the Ferndale Fire Department on Jan. 23 for a community watch meeting to follow up on November’s meeting about home protection and observation skills and to have a question and answer forum with Bruyer.
On the Flathead County Sheriff’s website there is a crime mapping section that allows anyone to track and map out crimes in the area. So far this month, Bigfork has had one incident of theft/larceny in the 300 block of Ferndale Drive on Jan. 12 at 2 a.m. and one incident of vandalism in the 1000 block of Holt Drive on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.
According to the crime-mapping program, the busiest days for the county deputies are on Thursdays and Fridays with comparatively few occurring on Mondays. Bruyer said between this information, and the maps showing where crimes most frequently occur, the department is able to coordinate their deputies accordingly.
“We can’t be everywhere, on any given time at the most there could be four to eight deputies on patrol shift,” Bruyer said.
Although the deputies are limited in number, they are able to take about 30,000 calls each year and according to Bruyer locals with proper training can help make crime prevention more efficient in the county.
Observation skills were the main topic during the community watch meeting last week. Bruyer said vehicles are the easiest to deal with by starting with the basics; makes, models, and colors. From there, observers should take note of gender, height, weight, and get more specific in their observations as time allows. He also emphasized writing down observations as soon as possible once calmed down.
“The nice thing is everyone in the community knows who is supposed to be there and it helps our investigation down the road,” Bruyer said. “It’s hard to develop a community watch when some of us don’t have neighbors.”
The sheriff’s office is also working on finding funding to provide residents with training in things like basic first aid and how to provide water during an emergency situation. Bruyer anticipates working alongside the Bigfork Emergency Response Team when holding these training sessions in the future.
In other Flathead County Sheriff’s Department News:
The sheriff’s department has been reviewing school policies for lockdown and evacuation procedures in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Bruyer said aligning school procedures with how the deputies would respond to a shooting has been their top priority.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to lockdown and evacuation procedures for the schools because each building and classroom is designed differently. Bruyer said shootings couldn’t be handled with fire drill procedures because it lines the students up and makes them more vulnerable to shooters.
“You can make it as safe as you can, but I think it is important to still provide an environment for our children that creates the ability to learn and is safe but teachers don’t lose focus on what is important,” Bruyer said.