In his 7th week on the job, newly appointed Great Falls Chief of Police Jeff Newton introduced himself to Rotarians last week.
Jeff grew up in Bigfork and played football for MSU in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. After graduating, he was drawn to law enforcement, first working in a 24-member police department in Kalispell and then in a much larger one in Seattle before accepting a position in Great Falls 12 years ago. Jeff describes his work in Great Falls as a “Jack of all trades,” in that he moved through a variety of areas in the department on his way to the top. The breadth of his background should be an asset now that he leads the department.
Jeff focused on the challenges currently facing law enforcement in Great Falls. First, COVID-19 was a challenge, affecting 50% of the force over the course of time. Hopefully, we have rounded the corner on that challenge.
Illegal drugs, on the other hand, has been a huge challenge in Great Falls for the past decade. Although no worse than in any other major Montana city, drug traffic, particularly meth, is having a very negative impact here. Heroin laced with extremely dangerous fentanyl is also prevalent. Although service calls – e.g., reports of theft, vandalism, etc. – decreased during the pandemic, family member assaults have increased, increasing the danger to law enforcement officers when they intervene. Finally, in this time of heightened focus on police interactions with the public, particularly minority groups, law enforcement officers must be extremely cognizant of how they treat people, taking care to be courteous and professional at all times.
Chief Newton is also focusing on good public relations, as evidenced by his appearance at Rotary last week. He is excited about continuing the Citizens Academy and Shop with a Cop and hopes to implement a Youth Academy as well. He closed his remarks by telling us that the most important thing we can do to help our police department is to focus on the people close by. Our families, our neighbors, the people we see in the course of our days … notice them, check on them, take care of them. A good reminder from anyone, but an especially good one from our Chief of Police!
