Community Questions

Question:

Maybe you could have elaborated on why Springer should be removed. After doing my own research that will help make my decision on who to vote for there is a significant difference between being legally qualified to run for sheriff and having the professional experience to manage a sheriff’s department. A person without law enforcement experience could legally hold the office in Montana, but that raises some important questions:

• How would they evaluate decisions made by experienced deputies and investigators?
• How would they oversee a major criminal investigation?
• How would they recognize problems with officer training, procedures, or use of force?
• How would they manage the jail, department budget, and potential legal liabilities?
• What would their plan be for gaining the specialized knowledge they don’t already have?
  An elected sheriff doesn’t personally conduct every investigation or make every operational decision. Experienced deputies and command staff handle much of that work. But the sheriff is ultimately accountable for the department’s leadership.
  Grimm’s lack of law enforcement experience is a factual distinction between the candidates. Whether his other management experience and proposed leadership team would compensate for it is something voters can evaluate.
• And I think there’s another important question worth investigating: Does Garrett Grimm have an actual plan for who would serve as his undersheriff and command staff if elected? That would tell voters considerably more about how he intends to run the department.

J. Garrett Grimm’s Answer:

The Sheriff’s Office is an important position in Gallatin County that has been overlooked for many years, leading to our current situation. I appreciate your desire to learn more about the race and position to make an informed decision.

The Sheriff is the highest law enforcement position in a Montana county, and they influence how law enforcement is viewed. Our current Sheriff has created a climate in Gallatin County where many people do not trust his intentions and, by extension, are fearful of how law enforcement will or will not protect the safety and constitutional rights of all of our neighbors, friends, family, and ourselves.

Our current Sheriff has what I believe is a pretty strong and evident MAGA streak to his interactions with Gallatin County. Rightly or wrongly, I believe rightly, MAGA is viewed by many as hostile to the rights and safety of a very large portion of the population inside the United States and Gallatin County. These MAGA views from our Sheriff divide our community and create distrust with our law enforcement, making all of us less safe. Everyone in the United States, including in Montana, has nearly identical constitutional rights under both constitutions. Most importantly, Due Process rights. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been in Gallatin County and the rest of the county, Due Process and other rights are routinely violated. When this was happening in Gallatin County, and over 150 people were taken, the Sheriff was quick to call people legally observing the actions of ICE to be agitators and did not make a move to document the violations of rights being done by our government. Of the over 150 people taken by ICE, more than 20 have been ordered to be released by federal judges for Due Process violations, and no legal observer was arrested. Legally, ICE is mandated to operate within the borders of the United States, and local law enforcement cannot interfere with its legal operations. However, you cannot interfere with legal proceedings while still documenting and protecting the rights of all individuals. As Sheriff, I would walk this line of not interfering with legal actions but documenting and interceding when actions become clearly illegal. A primary goal, if elected, would be to protect the bedrock principles of the United States and Montana that are outlined in our constitutions. The constitutions that the Sheriff’s Office swears an Oath to, builds its Ethics on, and designs Policy to support.

Another goal for my tenure would be to place more trained deputies and support staff in the field to serve a growing community. I would also prioritize resources for the community and staff for mental health and substance abuse as the highest priorities. A combination of these issues is the number one reason people come into contact with law enforcement. We have made a number of great advances over the years in bringing more resources and training to our community, but the pace needs to be accelerated. The better these underlying issues are addressed through community involvement and resources within the Sheriff’s Office before they escalate, the more safety and security will be brought to Gallatin County.

I am a big believer in communication with and involvement in communities to address issues. I have repeatedly expressed my views that our current Sheriff has failed to communicate and interact with Gallatin County. Since he became Sheriff, there have been four community interactions in which people could ask questions directly in a public forum. For me, that is unacceptable. At least two events that had extremely important issues for the public to know about have been hidden. A deputy sheriff was charged and is currently on trial for sexually assaulting two minors, and an Undersheriff was criminally investigated and has resigned from the force, awaiting charges to be brought. These are not some small matter that can be swept under the rug. These are people who were entrusted with the authority given to them by you and me to enforce laws and even have the ability to use deadly force. As Sheriff, I would actively reach out to the public to gather your input and participation and to inform you of the important issues that impact your lives. Regardless of whether there might be something preferred to be kept hidden.

Your listed questions are very important to be addressed, and you already answered them in part when you noted that a Sheriff does not personally oversee everything. But I would need to know enough to be able to keep abreast of what is happening and intercede before things go off the rails. To do this, I would plan to go through as much of the training offered to any new hire as possible across all aspects of the Office. Shadowing each position so that I have first hand experience in the job, but more importantly, first hand experience with and pick the brain of each individual in those positions. For a command staff, what I would be able to change is limited, and I do not have any plans to drastically change staffing. My plan for addressing your questions is basically the same for all of them. Learn from the trained and competent individuals in their respective roles, seek advice, consult external resources to build knowledge, and use the team to make informed decisions that accurately reflect the situation on the ground.