City’s police chief wants officers to focus on drug enforcement rather than immigration.
By JoVonne Wagner MONTANA FREE PRESS
The Helena Police Department has announced its exit from a regional drug task force after the agency decided to collaborate with U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Wednesday evening, Helena Police Chief Brett Petty told city commissioners during a meeting that he had decided to withdraw HPD from the Missouri River Drug Task Force. Petty said the drug task force had been discussing the deployment of border patrol agents for over a year and, last November, decided to move forward with an official agreement.
“ I decided to, for Helena PD, to temporarily withdraw from MRDTF because I wanna make sure and keep our focus here for Helena PD [on] the policing and the drug activity,” Petty said during the meeting.
The Missouri River Drug Task Force, headquartered in Helena, is made up of law enforcement agencies from Lewis and Clark, Gallatin, Park, Meagher, Madison, Broadwater, and Sweet Grass counties that work with federal authorities to address drug trafficking.
The drug task force intends to deploy two agents in Helena and two agents in Bozeman, according to Petty.
Petty added that he has “some concerns” with border patrol presence and that he wanted to ensure that HPD doesn’t get involved with immigration enforcement instead of monitoring drug activity in the city.
“ This is not to say that we will never be a part of MRDTF ever again, but I think the best way to do this right now is not enter into that agreement and bring a brief pause to it and see how this actually plays out here locally in Helena,” Petty said.
Commissioner Sean Logan asked if the withdrawal would impact HPD’s ability to address drug crime in Helena. Petty responded that it won’t. The current drug investigator on the task force, he said, is already part of the police department’s criminal investigation division. While there may be potential coordination with the task force, that detective will remain under the HPD’s purview, Petty said.
Petty did add that there were ramifications for leaving. The HPD received $30,000 in annual funding for its participation in the drug task force. The department had already received half of the payment but will be out the other half after the new fiscal year.
However, the East Helena City Council, whose police department is also part of the MRDTF, voted Tuesday to accept changes to the agreement that include border patrol activities, according to a Helena Independent Record article.
“I am proud to have voted to keep East Helena actively involved in the MRDTF, to help combat drug and human trafficking, along with assisting with drug crime investigation operations in our community,” East Helena council member Wesley Feist told Montana Free Press on Friday.
The decision to leave the task force came as Helena and the HPD are considering a formal policy to address citizens’ and advocates’ growing concerns about safety and transparency with federal immigration authorities.
About 30 individuals, most of whom were immigration advocates, attended last week’s meeting. Some thanked Petty for his actions regarding the drug task force.
“ I do want to thank you, Chief Petty,” Ashley Fischer said. “I do appreciate that you have clearly heard from Helena citizens and taking action that you did on your withdrawal from commitment to the MRDTF. We do not have control over what is happening with the federal government, but we can do everything we can here to keep our community safe locally.”
