Polson cops seek grant

POLSON — The Polson Police Department already knows they’re pretty strapped, even with 12 full time police officers. Civilian Police Assistant Brian Kunz, a separate full-time employee that deals more with investigative work, has the data to back it up, and he’s hoping the research he’s done will help him convince the city of Polson to accept a federally-funded COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) grant.

“For the safety of the community and the safety of our officers, this is something we decided to pursue,” Kunz said. “The city council seemed very receptive to [the grant] and they’re very receptive to the needs of protecting the public.”

The city has already been awarded the grant, but must decide whether they want to accept the responsibility of the award. The grant effectively hires another full time officer for the city, paying for the first three years of employment, with the stipulation that the city pays the officer’s fourth year’s salary.

Ronan has already applied for and received the award; the officer hired, Troy Rexin, is in his second of four years under the grant. The grant gives the city five full time officers, and Ronan Asst. Police Chief Art Walgren said he’s been happy with how the grant has worked thus far.

“We hadn’t added a full time officer in more than 20 years, so it’s a nice way to increase our numbers that were desperately needed,” he said. “Our call load has gone up, especially in the last four years. Last year we topped 5,000 calls for the first time in our history. We have more flexibility, and it’s allowed us to cover more hours. By covering more hours, we end up having two people on more often, and that frees people up to not just respond to radio calls but allows us to be more proactive.”

Kunz is hoping the Polson department can be more proactive with another officer too, and statistics he compiled with the Montana Board of Crime Control showed that the city is due for some much needed help.

The statistics Kunz explored involved Class A crimes, including violent (homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) and nonviolent (fraud, extortion, weapons offenses, theft and drugs). Kunz found the Lewistown Police Department, an area that serves 5,915 residents and has 14 fulltime officers, averages 17 violent Class A crimes per year compared to Polson, a similar-sized city that averages 28 violent Class A offenses each year.

“So in essence, the city has a 60 percent higher violent crime volume with two less officers,” Kunz said of Polson in his statistical synopsis.

In all Class A offenses, Kunz compared Polson to the Toole County Sheriff’s Office, which serves 5,127 people with 12 fulltime deputies. He found the average deputy responds to 49 Class A incidents over a four-year period while the average PPD officer responds to 101 incidents over the same period.

“I was kind of surprised at how high we ranked,” Kunz said. “This is exactly why we need this position. The rise in violent crime is something we’re aware of and combating, but it does stress a department’s resources with Class A incidents.

It takes three or four or five officers several days to investigate and every time we pull an officer off the street, it’s less people patrolling.”

The numbers seem to back up the need, Kunz said, but the city trustees may be wary of taking on the fourth year salary. Walgren said with benefits and salary combined, Ronan will pay Rexin $55,000 in his fourth year, and will hope to keep him on after the grant ends.

“It’s worked very well for us, but the difficult part is making it come together at the end and absorbing the position and funding it,” Walgren said.

Walgren said the Ronan council has tried to budget money for the coming fourth year, but has found it difficult with the economy remaining tight. Kunz said a similar issue in Polson could put the city in a similar bind, but with the benefits of three free years and an added officer, it will be hard to give up.

“We’re optimistic it will happen,” Kunz said. “It will be a good thing. We could always use the help.”

Kunz will present his statistics in front of the Polson City Council on Dec. 6.