Law veteran finds rewards, frustrations

Nearing the home stretch of his quarter-decade in law enforcement, Sgt. Jim Browder has three months until his May 22 retirement day.

“I’m happy to walk out the door when a majority of people are sorry to see me go,” he said with a laugh, noting that he doesn’t want to overstay.

“It’s a job many of us get into for the perceived excitement, and it doesn’t take long for that to go away,” he said. “But dealing with good people at their absolute worst and trying to make it better if you can, that’s rewarding.

“There is certainly no fortune and glory in the job, and at the end of the day, all you have is your integrity and self-respect. So, if you can walk away with that intact, that is a sign of a successful career.”

For the “cautiously optimistic” lawman, the profession of which he has been a part since age 22 has been both rewarding and frustrating.

He and his wife, Dorothy Browder, who worked as a Flathead County Sheriff’s deputy for 20 years, brought justice to a woman who had been abused by her husband for half a decade, winning each of them officer of the year awards from the Violence Free Crisis Line.

Living and breathing law enforcement for five years as a sheriff’s deputy in Missoula County, however, destroyed his first marriage, and the grueling hours made him quit the profession for almost a decade — a time he spent repairing computers in Denver.

But Jim Browder couldn’t stay away.

“There was a part of me that really enjoyed the work,” he said. “It wasn’t the ‘devote all of your time to it’ part of me, or the ‘lights and sirens’ part of me or the ‘carrying a gun’ part of me; it was the part that lets you interact with people on so many different levels.

“And I missed that.”

When Browder joined the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in 1990, it was with a little more wisdom.

“I had a more realistic view of the job,” he said. “I made more of an effort to prioritize things. A job is important, but it certainly is not as important as my family.”

And having a wife in the business made all the difference.

Dorothy Browder retired from an accomplished 24-year career with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office in October, having been promoted from dispatcher to detective, serving as the first woman deputy coroner and as the first woman president of the Montana Coroner’s Association.

“I’ve been very fortunate, being married to Dorothy,” Jim Browder said of his wife of 17 years.

“When I come home or she comes home and things aren’t right, we know why. We can talk about it because we’ve been through it. We’ve had those painful calls that just seem so terribly unfair. We have someone to unload on. To vent. To reach out to.”

They also teamed up at times.

About 10 years ago, Jim Browder, then a patrol deputy, responded to a domestic disturbance call. The caller, a man, had issued a complaint against his wife, Browder said. So Browder and another deputy went to the home to assess the situation.

Browder said he spoke with the man but also wanted to get the woman’s side of the story.

“It was one of those situations you can’t adequately describe,” he said. “I knocked on the door. She opened it. I looked at her, and I knew this was the victim. Whatever story this guy was saying, without saying a word, I knew she had been victimized. She had a haunted look.”

The deputies arrested the man. The case went to detectives and landed on Dorothy Browder’s desk.

Dorothy Browder spent the better part of the next six months putting together a case examining the five years the woman allegedly had been abused physically and sexually, Jim Browder said.

Dorothy Browder was able to dig up charges for an unrelated incident that earned the man a stint in federal prison.

“It was truly a success story,” Jim Browder said of the case. “She was able to get the help she needed while he was in prison and ultimately moved out of the area. I saw her one time after that and she thanked me. Her change was miraculous — she was a different person.”

Although the job was “emotionally wrenching” at times, Browder said he will miss the interpersonal interactions.

But Browder is looking forward.

The couple plan to visit Jamaica in May, then will travel the United States to visit their five children.

Of his career, Jim Browder said, “I haven’t had any of those incidents that got me my 15 minutes of fame ... but it’s been a good job and I feel I’ve contributed to the profession.”

Reporter Melissa Weaver may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at mweaver@dailyinterlake.com