by Parker H. Jimison
Just over one year ago, in an effort to combat the rise in rates of violent crime in Montana, Project Safe Neighborhoods began an effort to combat the causes of those crimes in and around Yellowstone County. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a revitalized US Department of Justice initiative that seeks to target the most violent criminals in high-crime areas in an effort to reduce overall crime and develop a substance abuse treatment and prevention plan. Between 2013-2017 violent crimes in the state had increased by over 35%, making Montana the state with the second highest violent crime rate in the Northwest. Yellowstone County itself was identified as one of the areas with the highest rate and growth of violent crimes. It was determined that the number one reason for this is the meth trade so prevalent in this area, and officials in Yellowstone County have been hard at work dismantling methamphetamine trafficking rings and prosecuting a massive number of violent offenders. Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito says that law enforcement has prioritized individuals who continue to distribute meth, use violence to protect their distribution networks, or rob others to support their addiction as the main targets of the initiative. “In 2018, my office alone filed over 700 felony possession charges and over 100 distribution or possession charges,” Twito said, highlighting the success of the initiative only one year in.
US Attorney Kurt Alme says that Project Safe Neighborhoods has been using a two-pronged approach to reduce the prevalence of meth related crimes in the Yellowstone County area: focused law enforcement to combat distributors and their networks as well as meth prevention to keep people from becoming addicted in the first place and treatment for those already suffering from addiction. Alme has said, “We focused on arresting meth traffickers and dealers, armed robbers, violent felons with firearms, and violent felons with outstanding warrants.” So far, this strategy has yielded phenomenal results, with over 245 pounds of meth, an estimated $11 million worth, and 212 firearms having been seized and one hundred seventy defendants have been charged with meth trafficking, firearm offenses, or robbery just in this past year.
In the twelve months since beginning Project Safe Neighborhoods, the violent crime rates in Yellowstone County have all but stagnated, with only a 1.3% increase compared to the 26% increase from the previous year. “The significant increases in violent crime in Yellowstone County have almost stopped because of the hard work of our committed federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors,” says Alme, “Now, to reduce violent crime, we need to continue to get the most dangerous offenders off the street and we need to reduce the demand for meth.” This is the first time since before 2014 that the violent crime rates in Yellowstone County have not gone up significantly and has required massive collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Attorney General Tim Fox has said, “The Yellowstone County results of Project Safe Neighborhoods are clear: when it comes to meth and violent crime, enforcement works. The results we have achieved here are due to the commitment and collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals working in tandem to target the worst offenders and bring them to justice. Our work in Yellowstone County and elsewhere will continue.” In conjunction with the efforts to disrupt the meth trade, law enforcement has also been working at putting away violent offenders of all types, with the US Marshals Service Violent Offender Task Force having served 652 federal and state warrants on offenders.
The next step for Project Safe Neighborhoods is to attempt to decrease the demand for meth in the area. To accomplish this, they are working with the Yellowstone Substance Abuse Connect Coalition, a coalition of 62 nonprofit and government organizations presently working on a community plan for substance abuse prevention and treatment. Working to prevent and treat addiction lays at the heart of the fight against the meth trade, and Project Safe Neighborhoods in committed to continuing its fight against crime in Yellowstone County by both prosecuting violent offenders to the fullest extent and seeking to reduce demand for meth through the prevention and treatment of addiction.
