Tuesday was apparently cop day for this citizen journalist who once sympathized with the challenges law enforcement faces as society breaks down in real time. After experiencing the high priority law enforcement has for vehicles with only one functioning headlight, combined with their odd lack of curiosity about what objective video footage would tell them about the Toyota Tundra that tried to take me out on my bike last week, I decided the Transportation Policy Board should hear about what cops are doing and NOT doing.
That’s right, I made yesterday’s public comment in person because I’ve only been legally forbidden from attending Monday and Wednesday City Council meetings, not Tuesday Transportation meetings. I’m sure church crashers like Danny Tenenbaum and Ukrainian train lovers like Dave Strohmaier were REALLY HAPPY to see me!
Later in the day I was biking to Flippers when I saw a significant police response at the Babs, an idyllically situated property on the Hip Strip that’s now mostly short-term rentals. I was able to get VERY close to the action with my phone and my presence went completely undetected by our boys and girls in blue. That’s pretty shitty “op-sec” (operational security) if you ask me.
After the excitement settled down I spoke with the woman who triggered this response. Apparently she was mistaken about what unit was hers and, because the man who was rightfully in his own unit got up and locked the door on her, she called 911 to report what she assumed was an intruder.
Is an overwhelming response for a tourist and an underwhelming response for a reluctant multi-modal citizen journalist the kind of priorities we can expect from the cops who just got a raise recently?
The new contract will raise police wages by 13.5% in fiscal year 2025, 10.5% in 2026, and 7.5% in 2027. Four percent is the standard base increase that would have been given regardless of negotiations.
“These wages are reasonable and they align with market rates,” Missoula’s Chief HR Officer Angela Simonson said.
Before I get to my final piece of video content there’s a rumor that Missoula’s most famous Detective might be retiring, so I sent an email yesterday to the Public Information Officer who generally give me the most useless responses to see if I could confirm this rumor. If true, I have a pretty good idea what his next move is, so I’ll be doing what I can to help with the transition.
Now, the last piece of content I’d like to share for this mid-week post is the song version of the little history lesson I included in Monday’s post about the history of the Sheriff role in America. Why read about history when you can listen to a shit-talking song about it?
Thanks for reading!