BOZEMAN – Last night the city voted to build a Bozeman public safety facility instead of building a joint law enforcement center with Gallatin County.
The county says they have been working with the city for the past three years in hopes of keeping the Sheriff’s Office and the Bozeman Police Department in the same building.
“I think in some ways it’s disappointing. I have worked for three years with the city to try and get something but in those three years and especially in the last few days I have realized that I don’t think the city and county would be a very good marriage to do a big project like that,” said Gallatin County Commissioner Joe Skinner.
The city will hope to get Bozeman voters to approve building the public safety facility. It will cost $37.4 million, meaning that the average taxpayer would pay $146 each year.
If the safety building is approved, it will house fire, police, and municipal courts all under one roof. However, that also means that county and city law enforcement would operate in separate buildings.
“The worst thing in this whole thing is separating law enforcement but there are a lot of other things to consider. I think from hearing from the sheriff and the chief that is a doable situation to live in, you know, in separate facilities,” said Skinner.
Bozeman Chief of Police Steve Crawford says the police department was satisfied with the city partnering with the county or working on its own.
“I’ll be quite candid, that if the only problem facing the city was the police facility problem then I think the shared law enforcement center is the solution for that problem, but that’s not the only problem facing the city and I am the one that’s in the unique position that both projects solve my problem,” said Crawford.
