Kudos to the Lake County Sheriff's Office

It's not very often that county residents find themselves at the center of a news story that generates interest around the state, but that's exactly what happened last week with the capture of two prisoners who had escaped from the state prison earlier this month.

And we came out smelling like roses — thanks largely to the Lake County Sheriff's office.

Sheriff Lucky Larson and his team were responsible for coordinating more than a dozen law enforcement agencies from around the state, and several federal ones, too, in what was an impressive effort that ended in success.

That success came from a lot of hard work on the part of local law enforcement personnel, including Sheriff's deputies, Tribal police and Highway Patrol troopers, all of whom worked together to warn residents, patrol the Swan and east side of Flathead Lake, and conduct searches of cabins, vehicles and campgrounds.

At the top of that effort, Sheriff Larson had to coordinate dozens of men and women, each from different agencies, each with their own skills and training, each with their own "way of doing things," each with their own culture, chain-of-command, and operating methodology. Somehow, it all came together successfully, and for that, the county as a whole comes out looking great to every person following the story around the state.

We certainly can understand the difficulty in tracking two men who don't want to be found, but let's face it, where others had failed, our Sheriff's office succeeded.

We tip our hats to Sheriff Larson and his staff for their hard work. They made us all look good.