Distinctly Montana Magazine

2022 // Winter

Distinctly Montana Magazine

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w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 35 M Y HUSBAND, HILL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE CHIEF DEPUTY CORY MATKIN, spent his entire law enforce- ment career working in rural north-central Montana prior to his retirement in the fall of 2020. He was barely out of high school when he took his first job as a dispatcher and deten- tion officer in the tiny town of Chinook. "I wanted a job that would be different every day— something where I wasn't confined to an office, and something that gave back to and improved the communi- ty," Matkin recalls of his ear- ly days. "I was also drawn to the excitement. It was going to be law enforcement or the military for me." Mike Flanagan, retired U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent of the Havre Sector, was also drawn to the field of law enforcement shortly after high school. He began working as a part-time, seasonal officer for the Saratoga Springs Police Department in New York in 1985, following in the footsteps of his father. "I had no real plans to pursue it as a career, but after doing it for a few months, I knew it was what I wanted," Flanagan says. Over the course of the next three decades, he skyrocketed through the ranks of the U.S. Border Patrol, working in six states and ultimately becoming one of only 20 sector chiefs in the nation. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo C. Dutton said his career as a public servant was inspired by his father, WWII veteran Joe Dutton. Sheriff Dut- ton describes his father as a "jack of all trades," and credited him with helping him fall in love with flying and working as a paramedic. "I got to see some good examples of peace of- ficers growing up," he explains. "I think I always had a sense of justice and always felt badly when I saw some- one unfairly being taken advantage of." At one point in his public service career, Sheriff Dutton was simultaneously working as an EMT/paramedic, a flight instructor, and a part-time deputy. He decided to make his peace officer position a full-time career in 1996. "I never dreamed I was going to be a sheriff," he says. "I just wanted to be a deputy and wanted to be working the streets, but over time your goals change. In 2003 I had the opportu- nity to become the undersheriff and began to see how I could affect the philosophy of an entire office… I wanted to be a part of that and to create a team with our community." TECHNOLOGY, FUNDING, AND POLICING SOLO Working as a peace officer in the patchwork of rural com- munities blanketing much of Montana presents a host of complications that vary greatly from the hurdles faced by agencies in more populated areas. Although the nature of the calls tend to be similar across jurisdictions, many of our rural peace officers are forced to handle them with far fewer resources—including the possibility of not having backup. "The land area or jurisdiction you're responsible for can be much larger, and distance between calls can be significant," Matkin notes. "The availability of backup is consistently less, whether that is due to staffing levels or the prox- imity of assisting officers. You're often working alone, or your nearest backup may be 40 minutes away when needed. You learn to work effectively by yourself... or at the minimum, to be very diplomatic until your back- up arrives." Flanagan says learning to work alone was one of the biggest adjustments he had to make when he moved to Montana after serving in densely-populated areas on the southwestern border or in places like Washington, D.C. and Miami, especial- ly after he retired from the Border Patrol and began working as a Hill County sheriff's deputy. "Help can be a long time coming," he agrees. "Most of the time, you are alone. You really must be equipped to handle whatever comes up. Even if there are other people on duty, they may be unavail- able to respond or could be an hour away." Montana's lower population also means there are fewer tax dollars to devote to law enforcement agencies, regard- less of the sprawling landmass. "Vehicles, staffing, equipment, pay and benefits were an issue that a rank-and-file officer can't really do anything about," Flanagan says. "When I started as a deputy, my pa- by HOLLY MATKIN Mike Flanagan

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