The Great Falls Police Department is redirecting two teams to focus on downtown this summer.

The directed enforcement team and the school resource officers will be refocused to address criminal activity downtown for the summer months and have been given the of zero tolerance for criminal activity to be addressed through enforcement to include arrests.

Criminal behavior often ticks up during the warmer weather downtown and GFPD said this summer, they’ll address crimes such as panhandling, public intoxication, trespass, criminal mischief, theft, fighting and disturbing the peace that are becoming more frequent and disruptive.

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Capt. Doug Otto said that law enforcement officials recognize the issues may be connected to deeper, underlying issues of mental health and addiction, but criminal behavior won’t be tolerated.

“This is not a new concern, but one that has intensified and now requires enhanced, coordinated efforts to mitigate,” according to GFPD.

During the June 3 City Commission meeting, City Manager Greg Doyon said that ““his isn’t the first conversation about homelessness that we’ve had.”

It it was easy, he said, the city would have solved the problem a long time ago and it’s why the city has been having so many conversations about public safety.

With a lack of resources, it’s tough for this community to address, Doyon said, but the city is shifting resources to downtown for a period of time.

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Otto said the DET is designed to have four officers and a sergeant, but currently has two officers and a sergeant due to staffing shortages at GFPD.

He said GFPD is currently down five sworn officer positions and is soon to be down seven.

The DET was designed to address specific problems or areas depending on crime trends and will be refocused to downtown this summer.

The officers will be patrolling on foot, in the side by side and in marked and unmarked patrol vehicles.

“We’re going back to a little bit of old school policing style,” Otto said of the foot patrols.

GFPD previously had a Business Residential Involving Community, or BRIC, position that focused specifically on the downtown area, but dissolved that position into 2018 due to staffing shortages.

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Dave Bowen, the police chief at the time, said he was directing patrol officers to patrol downtown when they had free time.

The SROs will still have duties related to schools and other police bureaus, but will also support downtown patrols for the summer, Otto said.

The patrol schedules will vary depending on downtown events and times that might see upticks in criminal behavior, Otto said.

He said that GFPD is working with downtown agencies to help educate business owners on steps they can take to help officers, such as posting no trespassing signs and to call dispatch with problems so officers can determine responses as necessary.

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“There’s a lot of nuisance issues that occur, but they’re criminal,” Otto said, making visitors to downtown uncomfortable.

If a person wants to sit and chill, that’s okay, but they can’t be drinking in public or causing problems, he said.

The rules don’t just apply to transients or the homeless, he said, but everyone.

“We have to be fair, balances and equal across the board,” he said.

In many cases, GFPD has addressed the same issues with the same people repeatedly.

Otto said that they’ll likely do some education for people who may not realize some rules, but continued problem behavior will result in citations.

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GFPD is working with the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office to find solutions for taking people to jail who repeatedly violate the law downtown, but also maintaining space for those who commit more serious crimes, as well as the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, City Attorney’s Office and Great Falls Municipal Court.

GFPD said they need community help to ensure a safe and fun summer by calling:

• 911 for emergencies, when a person or property is in imminent danger, or when a violent criminal act is happening or about to happen such as when a fight, an assault, breaking windows, hitting a vehicle, grabbing someone’s bag from them, anything that includes one person touching another person, a theft where the suspect is still there, etc.
• the non-emergency line, 406-455-8599, when a non-violent crime is happening such as when someone is being made to feel uncomfortable, when someone is harassing patrons dining at a pedlet, when someone is begging for money or performing a vulgar act in view of the public, to report a theft that occurred in the past and no suspect is present, etc.

“Our downtown is the heart of Great Falls; keeping it safe and welcoming is a shared responsibility and unlawful behavior will be addressed,” GFPD Chief Jeff Newton said. “This is a team effort. We are working closely with our public safety partners and local organizations to address the problem head-on.”