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Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply to this thread. It's much appreciated. So I'm a police officer in Athens, GA who is considering a move to Montana, specifically to either the Billings or Helena areas currently. I had been considering Great Falls as well but from what I've read up on with that city it really seems like it's going downhill fast. I know Billings got voted one of the top cities to raise a family or open a small business (my wife has always thought of opening a bakery) so it's top on my list so far. I'm open for most places, though, as long as it's not filled with ultra-liberal crazies, homeless people, and/or tons of public housing. Many of you probably don't know but Athens was ranked the poorest county in the country and it is literally filled with public housing complexes, homeless people, and some of the worst schools around (ranked 1s and 2s out of 10). The crime rate is atrocious and quite honestly I'd rather not have my daughter pregnant by the age of 15 from some guy who can't seem to figure out how to property size his pants so his butt doesn't hang out .
So on to my questions...
1) Is anyone familiar with the police departments in the areas? Do they operate under the foundations of being like a family and being close-knit like I would expect from northern agencies or do the officers tend to be out for themselves and is the agency very anti-police? How is morale? How does the public generally feel about the police?
2) Are these areas good places to raise a family? Are they currently growing areas that are generally economically healthy (given the current state of affairs for the nation that is) or are they on a downward spiral? I've got this opinion that Montana may be one of the few places left in the country that still has what I would call America Values but I'm no expert so I'd love to hear your opinions on the general society in Montana (and I'm not from California, nor would I want to be, and I have no intentions of coming there and telling you how we did things back home or how they should be done ). What we are looking for is a place where our kids could grow up with values and ethics that existed when I was a kid or when my parents were kids - values and ethics that I'm afraid to say I just don't see often anymore in my area.
Those are really my top 2 questions so far. I've talked to a few of the police departments in the area and am shocked at what they are willing to pay an officer with experience (it's a raise to say the least) and was also pretty impressed with how close knit they seemed. From what I've been reading about the people of Montana is that they are pretty friendly as long as I am and as long as I don't start telling people how things should be done (which I don't do). I was real impressed that Billings still has an operational drive-in movie theater of all things! I mean you just don't see those anymore!
So by all means please help me out here. Would love to hear any more pros or cons of the areas too! Also I'm already aware it snows there - I'm originally from up north so I'm used to the snow and boy do I miss the actual seasons! Georgia seems like it just has one season! It's hot, then hotter, then a little less hot, then hot again!
I like Billings as a town, but it does have more of the homeless kind of problems than some of the other areas due to shear size and the fact there are 2 reservations close by.
I know the sherrifs department there had some problems a couple years back, I haven't heard any negatives about the police dept.
I live in Helena and for the most part Troy McGee is a good chief.
Helena is about 1/3 the size of Billings, but much more liberal due to being the seat of state government. Probably not liberal by most out of state standards, but for Montana....
Still a lot better than Missoula for that.
I worked with the city department when I was a volunteer firefighter and was usually pretty satisfied with the way the Helena PD did things.
Most police officers are by themselves on patrol, and they have to be pretty good at their jobs because there may not be a lot of backup close by in a situation.
I still work with 2 of the city cops in my job, both are very competent and seem happy with their work.
To be honest, most of Montana is a good place to raise kids. The amount of space and availability of wildlands to recreate in help a lot by giving kids clean wholesome ways to have fun.
Go fishing, take a hike, camping, birdwatching, skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoing, lots of good stuff for kids.
Either Helena or Billings would be pretty good for you.
I certainly appreciate the quick response MTSilvertip! Also great to hear that you have some personal experience with the Helena guys - I was real impressed with their recruiter when I talked to him a short while back. My wife is a big fan of Helena and for what it's worth I really did feel that Helena would be a great place to live too! But Billings does seem to have a lot more going on as far as what I would be looking as far as population size, amenities, etc. I'm not counting Helena out yet though.
I'm certainly not opposed to single officer cars - that's what I'm used to here in Athens. It's good to know that the officers up there have a reputation for being able to handle themselves...my department has gone the route of only hiring guys who can run 15 miles but can't do a pushup so the newer folks I tend to really worry about when it comes to having to stand on their own in some situations.
I agree, Billings has a lot more concerts and shows and events than Helena does, but on the other hand they are pretty isolated so they are the center for a large area.
Helena sits in the middle of things so it is only about 90 miles to Great Falls to the North, Missoula to the West and Bozeman to the South, so it is just a little over an hours drive to the added amenities of those cities as well.
(in Montana, 60 miles is commuting distance for daily work for a lot of people, so lot of folks travel to those other towns just for a day of shopping or a dinner.)
Billings has a lot to offer, no doubt, and I wouldn't discount it at all. Lots of good restaraunts, shopping, (they have a Cabellas!!) and the best medical facilities for a long way in any direction.
I personally like Billings, My family lives in Big Timber so Billings is where they shop and do most of their other stuff, just like most folks within 120 miles of that town do.
I think I can answer these questions. I grew up in Billings and my family still lives there.
1) People in Billings tend to be neutral to positive on Billings PD. I've heard more negative comments about Yellowstone County Sheriffs and Highway Patrol. The BPD is very undersized for a city of 100k people. I remember reading that they only had 99 officers 10 years ago and the city was still very safe. I don't know if it still that small but it is smaller than average. Billings is a safe city anyways with most crime being property crimes. From what I understand, morale in BPD was low but that was because the city continued to hire out of state people for Chief.
2) Montana in general is a very good place to raise a family. There are a lot of outdoor activities and Billings tends to get more athletic events than the other cities. If you are a music fan, Billings is hit and miss as the bigger acts tend to go to Bozeman or Missoula than the Metra, the local arena. The public schools are good but there is a somewhat large contingent of homeschoolers as well as some private schools. The Catholic HS, Central, is well respected in town.
Eastern Montana isn't very welcoming of liberals, particularly since the rule the Western half and pushed the a lot of working ranchers and farmers into the Eastern half. You are much more likely to find a wackadoodle socialist in Helena, Bozeman or Missoula than Billings.
I've got to say that I have met a couple Law Officers in the Billings area, and they were true professionals. Though a little anal in their jobs, they still gave me a ticket. hahahahaha They were perfectly right in what they did and I think the general populace understands that and respects that. There is nothing more daunting than a set of lights in your rear view mirror indicating a Montana Trouper is on your ass.
I did have one thing that caught my eye, you said, "What we are looking for is a place where our kids could grow up with values and ethics that existed when I was a kid or when my parents were kids - values and ethics that I'm afraid to say I just don't see often anymore in my area."
It has been my experience that in Montana, folks teach ethics and values to their kids and they don't expect schools and others to differentiate from that. By that, I would fully expect a teacher to follow my lead, if you know what I mean. The younger crowd that I have encountered were very respectful and very polite. I was kind of surprised that in a town the size of Billings, the kids I encountered, were that way. In smaller towns, it is kind of expected, but Billings? I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, you are going to have youth that rebels authority, anywhere you go. It is up to you, as a parent, to make sure your kids don't follow those crowds.
Although I live in Wyoming, I shop in Montana and my kids associate with the ranch kids in Montana. Their work ethics are second to none. Those kids work first, play second. As my kids were growing up, they admired the fact that their friends worked their butt off on the ranches their ancestors created.
I truely believe that you would do well in Billings.
I appreciate everyone's answers so far - thanks truly.
I loved the statement you made, Elk, about folks teaching ethics and values to their kids and how you found the youth of Billings to be respectful and polite. I believe in teaching ethics, values, consideration, etc. to my children but the problem I have in Athens is that when they are surrounded by a population of peoples that have no job, are third generations of government dependence, and who feel like their greatest aspiration in life is to grow up and be a gangster rapper then obviously I'm fighting an uphill battle to make sure my kids turn out right. The more I am reading from all your great responses to this thread the more I'm leaning toward thinking that the decision to move is the right choice.
One thing concerns me slightly, though...someone pointed out that morale was low in BPD due to them constantly hiring out of state Chiefs... Does anyone know how often they are cycling through Chiefs and/or employees in general? We used to have a real problem here with attrition rate for officers so I know how that can take its toll. The problem with police work is not everyone can do it - and if you fill a department with brand new people then you set yourself up for real serious problems. I guess I've reasoned that the low populations in the area have led the departments to offering such high pay for lateral transfers in an effort to lure seasoned guys over but now I'm wondering if attrition rates are largely to blame for the higher wage offerings to veteran officers.
In Helena, Troy McGee has been chief for a long time here.
I didn't know about Billings, but the references I found only list 2 chiefs,
Ronald (Ron) Tussing - 1997 to 2005
Richard (Rich) St. John - 2005 to present
You can read the Billings Gazette online as well as the Helena Independent Record. I believe the Helena police department has less violent crime to deal with than the one in Billings does. And the City of Billings seems to have a lot of infighting that makes the paper.
In your shoes, I would pick Helena.
I spend a lot of time in both places. Helena has main street type businesses and a big emphasis on slowing down & walking around. There are frequent music and festive family friendly events throughout the year. The children's science center and carousel area is indicative of type of kid-focused community it is.
Billings is spread out, going through growing pains, and turning into a Anytown, USA of strip malls and parking lots. Downtown has a few businesses that are working at restoring a vibrant walking downtown but it is a work in progress.
Montana as a whole is a good place to grow up.
Billings, only has 106,000 people, but is the biggest city in quite a distance not only in Montana. It is more like many other places were 50 years ago, in that you feel safe in it not worried you may be in the wrong part of town which is a feeling you have in many cities and rightfully so. You rarely see a police car, as there is so little problems they are not out there trying to find trouble before it happens and trying to keep a lid on things like in so many places.
Billings still has a slow paced life feel to it, and you are not in as much pressure atmosphere as in so many cities.
Billings has one of the lowest unemployment factors for a city of it's size in the nation at under 4% in the area (3.9% current unemployment rate).
Billings was not really hit hard during the recession and was hardly felt by most people. Shopping malls are being built, and the current ones have almost no vacancy not becoming ghost towns like in so many parts of the nation.
For a family, it is a safe city to raise kids. The schools are highly rated.
Montana has no sales tax or city sales tax.
Cost of living is far below many parts of the nation. Average workers, can still afford to buy a home in Billings.
Billings beats the other cities you mentioned in wages, cost of living is lower, better home prices, lower unemployment rate.
Reason: Billings is a good hub city, shopping and medical center for quite a distance, more stable business environment, much more varied employment, and more of a real city. The other cities you mentioned, are more tourist type cities. Cities that attract wealthy home owners from places like California where many only reside part of the year.
Billings is in the snow shadow of the Rockies, and gets a lot less snow than Western Montana where the ski industry is big in the state.
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). What we are looking for is a place where our kids could grow up with values and ethics that existed when I was a kid or when my parents were kids - values and ethics that I'm afraid to say I just don't see often anymore in my area. 
