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trol vehicle was 15 years old with a door that wouldn't com-
pletely close. Driving on the highway sounded like you had
just jumped out of an airplane skydiving. But that was all
there was."
High turnover is also a frequent problem for rural depart-
ments.
"Most of the time they left because of low pay or cost of
health insurance," Flanagan says. "Losing seasoned officers
is highly detrimental to any agency, [and] hiring replace-
ment officers is expensive, especially factoring in the basic
field training cost."
While department budgets remain tight, society is de-
manding—and expecting—Montana's peace officers
to find a way to secure and implement cutting-edge
technology, often without added funding. As Mat-
kin says, "Judges and juries want physical, DNA
evidence, photographs, and video, and this pro-
duces its own host of problems for rural law en-
forcement agencies: where does the money come
from for costly in-car cameras or bodycams? As the
public demand for these capabilities and equipment
goes up, more often than not, the department's bud-
get stays the same."
When peace officers try to "do more with less,"
burnout, tension, decreased safety, and resentment
Hill County
Sheriff's Office Chief
Deputy Cory Matkin
"THEY DID MORE WITH LESS THAN ANY GROUP I'VE EVER WORKED WITH,"
FLANAGAN NOTES. "THE RESIDENTS WHERE I LIVED IN MONTANA
GET VERY HIGH-QUALITY POLICE PROTECTION… AT A BARGAIN PRICE."
