Kalispell Police receive safety grant

Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset rarely has to deploy tactically geared officers, but thanks to the customers of Flathead Electric Cooperative, he knows that if he does need to send out a SWAT team, his officers will show up with adequate gear.

The police department received a $5,822 grant from the Flathead Electric Cooperative Roundup for Safety Program in December to buy uniforms that can be used in special response situations.

“There was not the budget there for it this year,” Nasset said. “To the police department, this is kind of our last resource.”

Kalispell Police Department has a long history with the cooperative’s safety program.

Since 1997, the electricity provider has allowed customers to round their bills up to the nearest dollar. The extra change goes into a fund that provides grants to community nonprofits or other organizations that promote safety.

According to Roundup for Safety board president Rex Harris, the majority of power customers participate and generate nearly $16,000 each month. Since 1997, the board has met monthly and doled out just under $3.7 million to 957 projects.

Harris said the group sometimes has to make a stretch in thinking about the traditional definition of “safety,” but some of the projects that bent the definition the most have had some astounding results.

The Lion’s Club providing eye exams might not seem like a safety project, but Harris said that after the board gave a grant to help host an exam session, it was discovered that a small child had a serious medical issue that needed treatment.

“They immediately flew him to Seattle and they were able to save his sight,” Harris said.

In another instance, a fire team used ice rescue gear provided by a grant to save a woman and her dog who had fallen through the ice on Foy’s Lake.

Kalispell Police were also able to use tourniquets bought with grant money on a man who was bleeding out after being stabbed in May 2015.

“It saved a life,” Nasset said.

He and Harris both expressed their gratitude to the ratepayers who make the grants possible.

Harris said Flathead Electric customers who don’t participate can sign up with a quick three-minute phone call to the cooperatives.

“It’s easy,” Harris said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.