The Billings Police Department is a police department in

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

, the main law enforcement service in

. It is the largest city police force in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

with 162 sworn officers/80 civilian employees covering and a population of about 115,000. The city is divided into nine beats and patrolled by 75 officers. Organizationally the department is broken up into the Operations (Patrol) Division and the Investigations Division.

Rank structure and insignia

History

Before the Billings Police Department was established, most of the law enforcing was done by the

sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

office or by

vigilantes Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

. The Billings Police Department was established in 1902 with about 10

Police officers A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

on duty. Most of their jobs were shutting down

red light districts A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

and patrolling the streets. As the city grew, so did their responsibilities.

Controversies & Misconduct

In 2001, the Billings Police Department settled a

Racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

case for $50,000 with the ACLU. Some 28 current and former Billing Police officers filed a lawsuit in January 2009 claiming that the city miscalculated their pay, possibly dating as far back as 1994. In October 2012, members of a city/county SWAT deployed a flash grenade in a home they were raiding. The device went off and burned a twelve-year-old girl. Although the team was looking for a drug-manufacturing lab, they found nothing and made no arrests. The child was treated at a local hospital. In April 2014, Billings Police officer, Grant Morrison, shot and killed 38 year old Richard Ramirez during a traffic stop in an alley between Fifth Ave. S. and State Ave. A coroner's inquest found Morrison was justified in the shooting, however the Ramirez family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit which the City of Billings settled with them for $550,000 in lieu of going to trial in a civil case. In April 2018, three Billings police officers were disciplined for having sex on city property.

Officer-Involved Shootings

In May 2022, Billings Police officers were involved in shooting and killing 36-year-old resident Curtis Yellowtail, after Yellowtail reportedly assaulted a woman, and then led law enforcement a high-speed chase which ended near 14th St. West and Industrial Ave. On May 31, 2022, a total of 13 officers shot and killed 19-year-old Michael Morado after Morado reportedly fired at officers first. In August 2022, Billings Police officer, Ryland Nelson, reportedly shot a 22-year-old male one time in the abdomen. The police department had not identified the 22-year-old as of December 16, 2022, pending results from the state crime lab. y

Chiefs

*Ronald (Ron) Tussing - 1997 to 2005 *Richard (Rich) St. John - 2005 to present

Line of Duty Deaths

*Sergeant Robert T Hannah (EOW - July 2, 1904) *Policeman Enos Nelson (EOW - December 17, 1917) *Patrolman Arthur D. Pettit (EOW - December 23, 1935) *Detective Alexander F. Mavity (EOW - February 14, 1989)

References

External links

* {{State agencies of Montana Government of Billings, Montana Municipal police departments of Montana 1992 establishments in Montana