Change Needed in Law Enforcement Services

My name is Travis Wafstet. I am an Independent candidate for the Office of Sheriff/Coroner in Missoula County. I am writing to address the residents in Greenough, Potomac, Seeley Lake and Condon.

 For many months your communities have not received the law enforcement services you deserve. This includes the stressful summer fire season, which plagued the Seeley area.

For decades you have relied on the Sheriff’s Office “Resident Deputy” program where deputies live full-time and work in your communities separate from the local office in Missoula. Resident Deputies provide 24/7 coverage, often responding directly from their homes. Many of you have developed close relationships with these deputies because the program has been operating for more than 30 years.

Less than two years ago a third resident deputy was added to the program. Today, only one resident deputy remains. One person cannot adequately provide 24/7 law enforcement service to an area covering four communities.

Solutions to this dilemma were discussed at a recent meeting of the Missoula County Deputy Sheriff’s Association but no easy fix exists.

Currently one deputy is sent every day and one deputy is sent every night from Missoula to Seeley for a 12-hour shift of patrolling in the area. These deputies drive from Missoula at the start of their shift and return to Missoula before the end of their shift.

Unfortunately many of these shifts from Missoula are uncovered for a variety of reasons. When this occurs there are no deputies in the Seeley area, even with the resident deputy program. The closest law enforcement response for emergencies in these circumstances would be a deputy from Missoula, which could take 45-90+ minutes.

This current plan also means any deputy on patrol in Seeley must rely on any additional deputies having a 45-90+ minute response time to assist in a serious emergency. Many calls require more than one deputy, which places both the lone deputy in the area and the public at risk when backup comes from more than an hour away.

Other ideas proposed at the meeting included sending local deputies from Missoula to create a shift schedule much like a fire department where deputies are on-call and live temporarily during their assigned shifts in one central location, similar to a bunkhouse. Several other discussions included ways to hire more resident deputies to replenish the staffing levels of the current program and how to provide for housing for these deputies. Finding housing in one of the communities served is often the first concern of any potential resident deputy applicant and it frequently deters good potential applicants from ever applying.

I hope to continue this conversation with you as I travel to your communities to hear your concerns about the sheriff’s office. My hope is to find successful solutions for law enforcement services in your area by working cooperatively with you and listening to your worries and your ideas.

The ideas above are just a start to the conversation to find a solution to this dilemma. This conversation will be a continued concern of mine and any ideas we share together in the next few months will become the backbone of my plan to provide prompt, consistent and equitable law enforcement service to your communities if I become your next elected sheriff.