City aims to add four police officers

As population grows, Kalispell needs more law officers.

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

Kalispell police hope to add four new officers in fiscal 2008 - instead of two - if a federal grant program surfaces again after a hiatus.

That program is Community-Oriented Police Services - COPS - which used to supply grants to local police forces, usually to pay for extra officers.

If Congress approves a new $1 billion COPS fund - currently being talked about - then the Kalispell Police Department plans to apply for grant money to pay for most costs involving two extra officers, with the city supplying at least 20 percent of those costs, Police Chief Roger Nasset told the City Council on Thursday.

Here is how the police budget picture unfurled for fiscal 2008, which begins July 1. No action occurred at the briefing. The council will vote on the city's overall fiscal 2008 budget in a few weeks.

The Kalispell Police Department has 47 employees, including 34 sworn officers.

Montana's Board of Crime Control recommends that a city of Kalispell's size should have two sworn officers for each 1,000 residents. With a population of 20,000, Kalispell should have 40 sworn officers under this formula.

But Kalispell's overall budget will allow only two new officers to be hired for fiscal 2008, which would bring that total to 36, said Nasset and City Manager Jim Patrick. If Congress approves the $1 billion COPS fund, then Kalispell will try to obtain enough money for two additional officers to reach 38.

The officer shortage leads to more officers pulling overtime to fill the minimum staffing requirements of each shift, Nasset said.

Meanwhile, crime and arrests in Kalispell are increasing. Police figures show that the department:

- Received 20,092 calls for service in 2001, 20,478 calls in 2004 and 26,037 calls in 2006.

- Made 1,736 arrests in 2001, 1,788 arrests in 2004 and 1,975 arrests in 2006.

- Had a detective caseload of 351 cases in 2001, 445 cases in 2004 and 608 cases in 2006.

Patrick said that the detectives posted a 78 percent clearance rate in 2006 - meaning the cases are resolved in some way, with the most common resolution being an arrest. The national clearance rate is slightly less than 50 percent, he said.

For more on Kalispell's police budget request, see Saturday's Daily Inter Lake.