A 50 year Billings resident wrote to the Wyoming News. This is how he views the Billings Police Department.
” I am a 70-year-old man. I am an upstanding citizen who has never been in trouble with the law. I have absolutely no record, not even a driving citation. I have noticed recently that the Billings police department has become more arrogant and confrontational when dealing with the general public. This is not the Billings I grew up in, and it is concerning.
I have witnessed personally Billings officers using excessive force and being unnecessarily aggressive towards citizens. I have also heard stories from my friends and family members about similar encounters. It seems like the police are more interested in asserting their authority rather than serving and protecting the community.
I understand that being a police officer is a difficult job, but that does not excuse disrespectful behavior towards citizens. The police are supposed to be role models for the community, and their actions should reflect that.
I believe that the Billings police department needs to re-evaluate their training and policies to ensure that officers are treating citizens with respect and professionalism. The community deserves to feel safe and respected by the police, not intimidated and mistreated.
I hope that the Billings police department will take action to address these issues and work towards rebuilding trust and positive relationships with the community. Until then, I will continue to be wary of the Billings police and urge others to do the same.
Am greatly disappointed in my friend, St. John. So that is why I have reached out to various media with this letter of concern, anonymously.”
Sounds like the chickens are coming home to roost and leaving their excrements all over the Chief.
He deserves it.
Look at the type of officers that the Chief hires, basic failures with public relationships, I encourage the public to respect our police officers, but this is a two way street.
Voters, I encourage you to always vote down any monies that the Chief wants. Call your city council members pressure them into holding the Chief accountable. Until then no money for the Chief and his boys and gals in blue.
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, asphyxiation, beatings, shootings, improper takedowns, and unwarranted use of tasers. The BPD is guilty on all accounts.