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Law Enforcement

‘A Tough Balance’

Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino expresses frustration over county’s decision to deny the requested number of additional deputies in the current budget

By Maggie Dresser
A Flathead County Sheriff's Office vehicle. Beacon file photo

Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino has made it clear to county commissioners he needs more staff to adequately provide public safety. The county, he says, saw a 5% rise in crime between 2020 and 2021, and the influx of new residents has resulted in a dramatic increase in 911 call volume.

Last month, Heino requested an additional seven sheriff’s deputies for fiscal year 2023, but he was only granted one in the county’s finalized budget proposal. Commissioners also approved two Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) deputies in the budget, which were previously funded through grants, and an additional detention officer.

“There are different perspectives,” Heino said. “It’s important to realize on the deputy side that there is a struggle and there’s limited personnel. From my side, it’s a tough balance. You are trying to balance public safety and response and you want to be proactive, but you don’t have that opportunity. On the commissioner side you are balancing finance.”

Commissioners justified their decision, which approved an $11.9 million budget for the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) in August, by pointing to limited funding.

“Our general fund only increased 1.8%,” Commissioner Randy Brodehl said. “We increased the sheriff’s budget 15%. That means that the other departments had to forgo some of the things they would have liked to have, and it impacts their departments.”

Commissioners said they will review Heino’s sidebar request this month and in January to add two more deputies, which Brodehl says he supports. The additional deputies were not originally included in the budget because final revenue numbers from the state were not submitted yet.

“It’s frustrating that we still haven’t gotten that finalized approval to hire the positions requested,” Heino said. “But on the positive side – they are saying they will look at it.”

Heino is said he needs far more staff than the current 63 sworn-in deputies at the FCSO. In addition to a higher volume of calls, higher risk calls that require more resources are also increasing along with rapid population growth.

According to 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data, Flathead County grew by about 15% since 2010, adding more than 13,000 residents.

“The increase in those weapons and homicide calls is really a time crunch on us and they were consistently high,” Heino said. “Then you add these emergencies like floods and fires – that taxes us all a lot.”

Brodehl said he would like to provide more deputies to the FCSO, but that expense would fall on taxpayers.

“When we took over the 911 center, we promised taxpayers we would not increase the mills that we use to determine taxes,” Brodehl said. “To increase those taxes would be to back out on our promise. We are trying to maintain that promise to them.”

While Heino hoped to bring the number of sworn-in deputies to 70 before the budget was approved, he is constantly working to maintain a full staff of 63. The FCSO lost 12 deputies last year, many of which were early retirements that Heino attributes to an increase in call volume and high stress. Other deputies who were not eligible for retirement quit following an increase in officer-involved shootings.

“The risk factors dramatically increased,” Heino said. “There was a self-evaluation that occurred for all of us. There was a feeling that you couldn’t do anything right … I think the expectation for law enforcement in our nation is perfection.”

Due to lack of staff, deputies are working longer hours, adding to stress loads with little time to decompress.

Heino is usually able to maintain a full staff of deputies, but filling detention officer positions is a constant battle. The jail currently has 10 openings out of a full staff of 36 detention officers and to make up for those vacancies, patrol deputies often fill in to run the detention center when needed, he said.

Heino says he understands that the commissioners are trying to keep taxes low, but he says he doesn’t have the resources to respond to the county’s growth.

“What keeps me up at night is the safety aspect and the worry that one of your officers gets hurt,” Heino said. “Change is hard and adaptation to change is hard no matter what … In defense of the commissioners, they are trying to keep the tax base, but on our side, we are balancing huge growth.”

“From my standpoint, public safety has to be one of the top priorities and concerns and we have to keep moving forward,” he added.