by Travis Mateer
When the weather gets suddenly extreme, like the cold front that blew in yesterday, local media likes to check-in with homeless service providers to see what the needs are.
While this weather system is no different, the information available IS different, thanks to the city of Missoula’s contract with Roger’s International. To understand what I’m talking about, here’s the relevant part at the end of this KGVO article:
Jeager did not comment on the security at the Johnson Street facility due to the fact that security is privately funded by the City of Missoula.
I bolded the part that makes absolutely no sense at all. How in the hell can a city contract using public dollars be considered private funding?
The areas now being “secured” by Roger’s International with their city contract and MDOT contract includes the Poverello Center, the Johnson Street Shelter, the Transitional Safe Outdoor Space, and the official encampment near Walmart on Mullan.
A few months ago I spoke with Lynn Pritchard on the phone. Who is Lynn? She’s the co-owner of Rogers International. Why did I speak to her? Because I was curious.
I was curious why their address with the Secretary of State is NOT where they claim to be.
When you physically go to this address, like I did two months ago, you will find the Montgomery building, a place I am very familiar with. Why? Because when it was built it was intended to be a birthing center, where my wife and I planned on having our first child, but Dr. Lynn Montgomery died suddenly, and now I just go there if I need something from our family pharmacist.
Roger’s International DOES NOT EXIST at 1211 S. Reserve Street. I asked Lynn Pritchard if they moved their office, and she said yes, but I think that was a lie. I do not believe Roger’s International was EVER actually located at this address.
Another fact I find curious is when Rogers International was established. The screenshot image indicates the company was registered in March of 2020. So, just as the pandemic emerged, drastically altering the delivery of homeless services, Roger’s International ALSO emerged as a brand new security company. Nice timing.
There is something VERY fishy going on with this new and rapidly expanding role for private security companies in our community, and there are still some aspects of this story I’m not going into detail about yet because I hope to see more than just a blogger shining a light on what’s going on here.
Thanks for reading.
JC
Keep up the good work. This town is being sucked down the rabbit hole
by these “leaders”. Makes me sick.
The first day of public Missoula City Council meetings after the arrest of Brandon Bryant was the day Engen or his Police Chief ordered one of their officers to break a police cruiser window, so the police could use it as a provocation to lock down Missoula and show off MPD’s military grade weapons and equipment too scare away any potential protestors. This wasn’t the first protest Engen dodged either. They shut down Missoula downtown including St. Pats for nearly 4.5 hours, so they could flex their muscles.
When the Hell’s Angels came to town in 2000, Engen brought in jack booted Utah police with a helicopter to harass and surveil the bikers, with on average 2 police cruisers following each and every biker around town everywhere they went. Local Missoula residents rose up and protested downtown near the police department, and several were beaten, detained, and eventually arrested. Where was Engen? On vacation. After violating not only the bikers civil rights, but also his Missoula constituents, he threw his police chief under the bus.
Like Trudeau in Canada, Engen wants to use thugs with face masks, no identification, or accountability to enforce his tyrannical empire. His use of private security and mobile crisis response units is intentional. You see they have no training in actually upholding the law, no experience with civil rights, and therefore when they abuse Missoula residents rights, Engen and his lackys will throw the private security/crisis units under the bus like the previous police chiefs.
Many people don’t realize Missoula’s long history of peaceful protest. Thanks to deep roots in pacifism and civil rights protests thanks too past residents like former Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin. Mostly peaceful protests, some disruptive, but nothing like the World Economic Forum\Council on Foreign Relations\Atlantic Council funded BLM and Antifa protests that have decimated other municipalities. Back in the 1960’s Harley Hettick took pictures of the protests for the Missoulian, which ignited a firestorm of protests that swept through the U.S. Hopefully Missoula can return to it’s roots and become a leader in protesting the continued abuses against our civil rights: freedom of speech, right of assembly, freedom from illegal search and seizure, etc.
At the North / Johnson winter shelter open house I was told by city staff and Rogers International that the security was not for the interior of the facility. They were to patrol or respond only in the public realm. It seemed the parking-corral area of the shelter was still a question mark. — And FYI: I’ve heard from emergency room staff that homeless patients refer to this shelter as “the Snake-pit”. It is apparently that bad when there is no accountability or admittance filtering.
Thanks for pointing out the oddity of private funding by public means. I might not have noticed it otherwise.
I can’t wait to utilize the blockchain for our next security company in the METAVERSE. I bet this guy is legit, I chatted with him on FB.
Well, I sure hope the city isn’t letting some private third party pay for contracted security. That would be considered… well… fascism.
Let’s hope the quote was either a bad journalist misquote, or Jeager doesn’t have a clue about how Rogers operates. In any case, all three possibilities really suck.
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