Police Chief's Desk

The Glasgow Police Department relies on the community to be their eyes and ears on the streets. Officers can only be in one place at a time and they rely heavily upon the community for assistance. Your police department would like to take time to inform the public about how calls for service are received and weighted when it comes to the judicial process and officer response.

The officers on the streets often time, have a large work-load and use weighted credibility. Calls for service are normally routed through Valley County Dispatch at 228-4333.

The Dispatcher will ask the caller for their name, call back number, location of the incident and what occurred.

There will then be a conversation about whether the caller wants to sign a complaint or be a named complainant.

This element is critical to how officers handle business from a legal and prioritized standpoint. If the complainant does not want to be named, then the officer must establish their own evidence upon arrival at the scene. This sometimes can delay interaction with a suspect or halt it altogether if an officer can not establish their own probable cause. Without a named complainant, the call priority also drops when it comes to handling other calls for service.

If a complainant wants to be named and gives a statement, the officer then establishes the credibility of the complaint and complainant. The highest credibility from this standpoint goes to a "known credible witness to law enforcement." This means the citizen is known to have given reliable factual information to law enforcement in the past.

The next level of credibility goes to the "concerned citizen." A concerned citizen is simply that - a citizen who has no involvement in the incident at hand and simply believes interdiction by law enforcement is needed.

Right in the middle of the credibility scale there is the "general complainant." Usually, they are involved somehow and have a something to lose or gain in the complaint.

The next level of credibility falls to "third party or hearsay" meaning the concerned person did not see it but heard about it. The last and least level of credibility goes to "uncredible witness." Officers usually will need to gather numerous other pieces of evidence because the uncredible witness has knowingly lied to law enforcement or while in court.

Also taken into account during this process is the complainant's knowledge or expertise in the area of the violation or crime.

The Glasgow Police Department takes all call for service seriously and appreciates all information received no matter what level of credibility it comes with. Your police department is one of the best trained departments in the state and utilizes all information in accordance with Montana law.

Further, we are still looking for input on our motto or mission statement regarding the community policing concept.

If you have any ideas please stop up to the Old Armory, New Police Department, at 80 Airport Road.