(NMB) Governor Greg Gianforte was in Havre last week and sat down for a round table discussion with local law enforcement including the Havre Police Department, Hill County Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, U.S. Border Patrol and BNSF law enforcement. Governor Gianforte said a couple of things discussed was no big surprise.
“Not a big surprise, we heard about the continued rise in drug related crimes. Chief of Police’s office said probably more than ninety percent of crime we’re seeing along the hi-line is drug related. Border Patrol noted that border crossings are at the lowest level they’ve ever seen, they said it had a dramatic effect on the flow of drugs coming into our country both across the Southern border and what they’re seeing at the Northern Border.”
The Governor said his administration has been working with legislators and have made record investments in law enforcement by putting over five million dollars into increasing pay for corrections officers, expanding the Montana State prison and in the last Legislature appropriated another two hundred fifty million dollars for long term public safety. Gianforte has formed a group to go look at where to put that money and meetings with local law enforcement across the state will help determine where that money gets spent.
