The Police Department is hereby established, regulated, controlled
and supervised as provided in Montana Code Annotated Section 7-32-4101
et seq., and the provisions of this chapter.
The police shall, under the supervision of the Mayor, be under
the control of the Chief of Police. Such Chief of Police shall have
charge of special police of the City and perform all duties required
in the prevention and detection of crime.
(R.O. 1947 § 25)
The police of the City are hereby authorized to make arrests
of persons charged with crime, within the limits of this City, and
within five miles thereof, and along the line of the water supply
of the City.
(R.O. 1947 § 26)
The Police Department shall consist of one Chief of Police,
and such number of other officers and patrol officers as the City
Council shall determine.
(R.O. 1947 § 29)
A.
Appointments
by Mayor: Except as otherwise provided in this section, all appointments
to the police force must be made by the Mayor and confirmed by the
City Council, but no such appointment shall be made until an application
for such position on the police force has been filed with the Mayor,
and by him or her referred to the Police Commission. Such applicant
shall have successfully passed the examination required to be held
by such Police Commission as required by the Revised Code of Montana
1947 Section 11-1805, and be issued a certificate from such Police
Commission that the applicant has qualified for such appointment.
Such certificate shall be filed with the Mayor.
B.
Probationary
Term: Every applicant who has passed such examination and received
such certificate must first serve for a probationary term of one year.
At any time before the end of such probationary term, the Mayor may
revoke such appointment. After the end of such probationary term,
and within 30 days after, the appointment of such applicant must be
submitted to the City Council, and if such appointment is confirmed
by the City Council, such applicant becomes a member of the police
force, and shall hold such position during good behavior, unless suspended
or discharged as provided by law.
(R.O. 1947 §§ 31, 49; amd. Ord. 1586, 10-2-2006)
(Rep. by Ord. 1871, 2-7-2022)
At the first stated meeting in each month, the Chief of Police
shall present to the Council a report in writing, giving the number
of arrests made during the preceding month for offenses against the
ordinances of the City, and for offenses against the laws of the State,
the number of special police employed, and the amount paid to each
and such other facts concerning the business of his or her office
as the Council may deem advisable.
(R.O. 1947 § 23)
The Chief of Police shall give bond to the City with two sufficient
sureties, to be approved by the City Council, in the sum of $1,000.
(R.O. 1947 § 24)
The Mayor shall nominate and with the consent of the City Council
appoint three residents of the City, who shall have the qualifications
required by law to hold a municipal office therein, and who shall
constitute a board to be known by the name of Police Commission, who
shall hold office for three years. One such member must be appointed
annually, at the first regular meeting of the City Council in may
of each year; provided, that at the first meeting of the City Council
after the passage and approval of this section, the Mayor, subject
to the approval of the Council, shall appoint three members of such
Police Commission, one to serve until the first regular meeting of
the Council in May 1940, one to serve until the first regular meeting
of the Council in May 1941, and one to serve until the first regular
meeting of the Council in May 1942, and until the appointment and
confirmation of their successors. The members of the board shall receive
as compensation the sum of $5 while in attendance at meetings of the
board and shall not be paid for more than one meeting in any one month.
(R.O. 1947 § 32)
It shall be the duty of the Police Commission to examine all
applicants for positions on the police force as to their age, legal,
mental, moral and physical qualifications, and their ability to fill
the office as a member of the police force. It shall also be the duty
of the Police Commission, subject to the approval of the Mayor, to
make such rules and regulations regarding such examinations not inconsistent
with this chapter or the laws of the State. Any applicant who shall
make any false statement to the Police Commission as to his or her
age or other qualifications required, at his or her examination before
the Police Commission, shall be subject to suspension or dismissal
from the police force, after trial.
(R.O. 1947 § 33)
A.
Procedure:
The Police Commission shall have the jurisdiction, and it shall be
its duty, to hear, try and decide all charges brought by any person
against any member or officer of the Police Department, including
any charge that such member or officer is incompetent, or by age or
disease, or otherwise has become incapacitated to discharge the duties
of his or her office, or has been guilty of neglect of duty, or of
misconduct in his or her office, or has been found guilty of any crime,
or whose conduct has been such as to bring reproach upon the police
force. Any charge brought against any member of the police force must
be in writing in the form required by the Police Commission and a
copy thereof must be served upon the accused officer or member at
least three days before the time fixed for the hearing of such charge.
It is the duty of the Police Commission at the time set for hearing
a charge against a police officer, to forthwith proceed to hear, try
and determine the charge, according to the rules of the Police Commission.
The accused shall have the right to be present at the trial in person
and by counsel, and to be heard, and to give and furnish evidence
in his or her defense. All trials shall be open to the public. The
chairman, or acting chairman, of the Police Commission, shall have
power to issue subpoenas, attested in its name, to compel the attendance
of witnesses at the hearing and any person duly served with a subpoena
is bound to attend in obedience thereto. The Police Commission shall
have the same authority to enforce obedience to the subpoena, and
to punish the disobedience thereof, as is possessed by a judge of
the District Court in like cases.
B.
Decision:
The Police Commission must, after the conclusion of the hearing or
trial, decide whether the charge was proven or not proven and shall
have the power, by a decision of a majority of the Commission, to
discipline, suspend, remove or discharge any officer who shall have
been found guilty of the charge filed against him or her. Such action
of the Police Commission shall, however, be subject to modification
or veto by the Mayor made in writing, giving the reasons therefor,
which shall become the permanent record of the Police Commission.
The findings and decisions of the Police Commission shall be final
and conclusive unless modified or vetoed by the Mayor, within five
days from the date of the filing of such findings and decision with
the City Clerk. When a charge against a member of the police force
is found proven by the Board, and is not vetoed by the Mayor, the
Mayor must make an order enforcing the decision of the Board, or if
modified by the Mayor, then such decision as modified. Such decision
or order shall not be subject to review by any court on a question
of fact. The District Court of the proper county shall have jurisdiction,
however, in a suit brought by an officer or member of the police force,
to determine whether the essential requirements of law as to the method
of trial have been complied with, but no suit to review such hearing
or trial or for reinstatement to office shall be maintained unless
the same is begun within a period of 60 days after the decision of
the Police Commission or order of the Mayor has been filed with the
City Clerk, and in no case shall any officer or member who has been
suspended or discharged, or placed upon the eligible list, be entitled
to any salary or other emoluments of office, during the period of
suspension, or during the time he or she remains upon the eligible
list, or from the date of his or her discharge by the Police Commission
or the Mayor, to the time of his or her reinstatement if the court
should finally find he or she was entitled to be reinstated. No court
shall have jurisdiction to hear or determine any question or controversy
concerning the salary or compensation of any member of the police
force now or hereafter accrued, except for services actually rendered.
In no case shall any officer or member of the police force, be discharged
without hearing or trial before the Police Commission, as herein provided.
The Mayor or Chief of Police, subject to the approval of the Mayor,
shall have the power in all cases, to suspend a police officer, for
a period of not exceeding 10 days in any one month, with right of
appeal to the Police Commission, such suspension to be with or without
pay as the order of suspension may determine.
(R.O. 1947 § 49)
The City Council shall have absolute and exclusive power to
determine and limit the number of police officers and members to comprise
the police force, and to divide the police membership into two lists,
one active list, who are to be actually employed and receive pay while
so employed, and one an eligible list, who shall not receive pay,
while not actually employed as an officer, or member, and to reduce
the number of the police force at any time. Such officers or members
of the active list, temporarily relieved, from duty, shall become
members of the eligible list without pay and shall be first entitled
to reinstatement on the active list, in case of vacancy, according
to their seniority in the services, and all others on the eligible
list shall be entitled to fill a vacancy, in the order of their appointment.
Such action of the Council shall not be subject to review by any court.
In no event shall there be any officers or members placed on the eligible
list, except in case of temporary reduction of the police force, when
the number already on the eligible list shall equal in number 20%
of the active list.
(R.O. 1947 § 34)
Whenever any member of the Police Department shall have completed
20 years or more of service in the aggregate, either as a probationary
officer, a regular member of such Police Department, or as a special
police officer of such Department, in any capacity or rank whatsoever;
provided, that such police officer serving in the United States Army
or Navy in time of war, or national emergency, shall be given credit
upon his or her police record for such service in the same manner
as though on active duty for such time, he or she may at his or her
option pass from the active list of police officers of such City and
become a member of the police reserves. If he or she reaches the age
of 65 years while in active service, he or she shall pass from the
active list of police officers of the City and become a member of
the police reserves of the City.
(R.O. 1947 § 36)
Whenever any police officer shall receive injuries or disabilities
while on duty, or in active discharge of the duties of a police officer,
and in line of duty, which injuries or disability shall, in the opinion
of the City Council be of such character as to impair his or her ability
as an active police officer or incapacitate him or her for the further
discharge of his or her duties, as such, he or she shall become a
member of the police reserves in like manner as though he or she has
arrived at the age of transfer to the reserve list of such department.
(R.O. 1947 § 38)
Policemen or officers on the reserve list of the City, although
retired from the active list of police officers of the City, shall
be subject to call for police service or active duty whenever an emergency
shall require or the active service list be temporarily insufficient
for proper policing of the City, all under the rules and regulations
as the City Council shall prescribe.
(R.O. 1947 § 37)
A.
Specified:
Whenever any police officer shall from age or disability become transferred
from the active list of the police officers of the City to the reserve
list of the City, he or she shall thereafter be paid in monthly payments
from the funds provided for in this chapter a sum equal to 1/2 of
the salary he or she was receiving during the year prior to the time
he or she passed to the police reserve list.
B.
Survivors
Upon Death: Upon the death of any police officer on the active list
or reserve list of the City, his or her surviving dependent spouse,
if there be such a surviving spouse, shall, as long as he or she remains
his or her spouse, be paid, from the Police Reservesʼ Fund, a sum
equal to 1/2 the salary such police officer was receiving during the
year prior to the date of his or her demise or prior to the date such
police officer passes to the police reserve list. No surviving spouse
shall be entitled to payments under the provisions of this section
if he or she be 15 years younger than his or her spouse, unless he
or she shall have been married to and living with his or her spouse
for 10 years immediately preceding his or her death. If such police
officer shall leave a dependent minor child, or dependent minor children,
then upon the death of such police officer, providing he or she leaves
no surviving spouse, or upon the death or remarriage of his or her
spouse, or if his or her spouse be 15 years younger than his or her
spouse and shall not have been married to and living with his or her
spouse for the 10 years immediately preceding his or her death, then
his or her surviving dependent minor child, or dependent children,
collectively, if there be more than one dependent minor child, shall
be paid the same monthly payments as are herein provided to be paid
to the surviving spouse, until such minor child, or minor children,
shall have attained the age of 18 years or shall have married; provided
further, that the payments herein provided for to be made to the surviving
spouse or children shall not be made if such payments will require
an increase in the millage tax levy now provided for by Section 22-17
of this chapter.
C.
Payments
to Guardian for Minor: Payments as herein provided for, to be made
to the minor child or children of police officers, shall be paid to
the duly appointed, qualified and acting guardian of such child or
children, for the use of such minor, until such minor shall have reached
the age of 18 years or shall have married and in case there is more
than one minor child, upon each such child reaching the age of 18
years, the pro rata payments to such child shall cease and shall be
made to the remaining minor child or children until the youngest child
shall reach the age of 18 years or shall have married.
D.
Terms
Defined: The term "police officer," as herein used, shall
include all those on the reserve list, as well as "active police"
"or "patrol officer."
A.
Purpose;
Levied: For the purpose of paying the salaries of police officers
who have been placed upon the reserve list of the City, the City Council
shall in the manner provided by law and at the time of the levy of
the annual tax, levy such special tax not to exceed one mill on the
dollar on the assessed valuation of all taxable property within the
limits of the City, which such tax shall be collected as other taxes
and once so collected, shall be paid into the fund created for the
payment of such salaries of police officers upon the reserve list.
B.
Additional
Mill Levy: However, in case the demand against such fund shall be
heavier than such levy can provide, then in such case such additional
levy, but not to exceed two mills, may be made until such returns
from the first mill levy be sufficient to meet the demand.
(R.O. 1947 § 41; amd. Ord. 730 § 1)
The City Treasurer shall retain from the monthly salary of all
police officers upon the active list, a sum equal to 3% of the monthly
compensation paid each officer for his or her services as such police
officer. Such monthly deduction from the salaries of such police officers,
shall be paid into the fund created by the tax levy for the purpose
of paying the salaries of police officers upon the reserve list.
(R.O. 1947 § 42)
Whenever any member of the Police Department shall on account
of sickness or disability suffered or sustained while a member of
such Police Department, and not caused or brought on by dissipation
or abuse, be confined to any hospital or his or her home, and shall
require medical attention or care, the member or officer of such Police
Department may be, by the City Council, allowed his or her salary
as such police officer during his or her absence, and an amount equal
to his or her expenses while confined for such injury or sickness.
(R.O. 1947 § 40)
A Board of Trustees of the Pension Fund shall consist of the
Mayor, City Clerk and City Attorney, and two members of the Police
Department from the active list of the police officers of the City
who shall be selected by a majority vote of the members of the Police
Department on the active list of the City. The two first selected
shall be so selected that one shall be selected for a term expiring
May 10, 1940 and the other for a term expiring May 10, 1941. Annually
thereafter, between May 1st and 10th, one member shall be selected
for the term of two years. A certificate of the election of the members
of the Police Department selected for the Board of Trustees shall
be immediately upon such selection being made, certified to the City
Clerk by the chairman and secretary of the meeting at which selection
was made.
(R.O. 1947 § 46)
All monies in such Fund in excess of such an amount as shall
be deemed necessary from time to time to meet current payments to
reserve police officers, shall be invested as hereinafter provided,
and all interest on any and all monies belonging to such Fund whatsoever
source derived shall belong to and be paid into such Fund.
(R.O. 1947 § 45)
The Police Pension and Retirement Fund shall not be used for
any purpose whatsoever, other than the payment to members of the Police
Department on the reserve list of the amounts to which they are entitled
under the provisions of this chapter.
(R.O. 1947 § 48)
The Board of Trustees of the Pension and Disability Fund, shall
audit the same from time to time at least twice during each year and
report the condition of the Fund annually to the City Council on or
before April 1st of each year. The Board of Trustees shall invest
the money in such Fund from time to time as may be directed by the
City Council. But the money of the Fund shall not be invested in any
other than bonds of the United States or of this State, or bonds or
warrants of the City, which are general liabilities of the whole City.
Such trustees shall make sale of such bonds or securities when desirable
and as directed by the City Council. All such bonds and warrants shall
be deemed part of the Fund and shall be kept in the possession of
the City Treasurer. The City Treasurer shall be responsible therefor
in the same manner as he or she is for all other monies or funds of
the City. Before any member of the Police Department is placed on
the reserve list by the City Council, the Board of Trustees of such
Fund shall report to the City Council in writing their recommendations
as to whether or not such member shall be placed upon the reserve
list.
(R.O. 1947 § 47)
No members of the police force shall be liable to military or
jury duty, or to arrest on civil process, while actually on duty,
nor shall he or she hold any other office, or be employed in any other
department of the City government.
(R.O. 1947 § 52)
A.
No officer
or member of the Police Department shall be a member of or delegate
to any political convention, nor shall he or she be present at such
convention, except in the performance of duty relating to his or her
position as such officer or member.
B.
It shall
also be unlawful for any officer or member of the Police Department
to solicit any person to vote at any political caucus, primary, or
election for any candidate, or to challenge any voter, or in any manner
to attempt to influence any voter at any political caucus, primary,
or at any election or be a member of any political committee.
(R.O. 1947 §§ 53, 54)
