Cops there tryed their best deal with people if people won't listen to cops & laws that what cops do when people don't listen ! Yeah you have to show proof of things when going to report on some body or the cops won't do any thing about it . They are trying to make it safe place to live in here !
Lived all over the country and never seen so many unfit for the job. My homestate had to call them for some reason or another and the officer calling GFPD looked puzzled and said whats wrong with your LEO up there? To be fair there are a few excellent officers at GFPD but it seems the vast majority are not so great. Militant almost criminal.
I am going to give this department a 3 based off the tony hawk video. I am a retired just a few months ago police officer. So I understand the hard work they do and deserve credit for what the public doesn't see. It is an extremely hard job, but even with that the handling of the skate park was honestly not just bad, but unlawful. As a police officer you are only allowed to handcuff people if it is a dangerous crime or if there is an officer safety issue. If you think that crowd was unsafe you are just abusing your power. It was a SIMPLE infraction, the same as not using your turn signal. You did not have the legal authority to make a physical arrest requiring someone to placed into the backseat of a squad car in handcuffs. Then to top it off to tell a legend such as Tony Hawk "if you could read it is a crime to not have on a helmet". Police officer job is to enforce the law and educated the public. Congrats you 100% enforced the law and did zero educating. How hard would of it of been to just get on your vehicle mic and tell the crowd, "ladies and gentlemen, while we are glad you are enjoying yourself you are required to wear a helmet. Please put a helmet on or you will be asked to leave the park." A few smiles from the cops would of changed your entire public perception. Hope from here on out you do better. If you are a cop and read this and your first reaction is F*** this guy, then it is probably time to retire because you are just to jaded from all the bad stuff we see on a daily basis. Go enjoy life.
GFPD has respond well and promptly. The only complaint I have is that they need to reach out to the community and forge better relations with the people who are in the trenches dealing with the drugs, and do not have bullet resistant vests, nor the protections the police have. We are here every day living with this with a thin vale of protection called a phone and a response time, and the hope that the problem will be resolved. please think about that as you drive in your car loaded with guns for your protection, and bullet resistant vests, and a department that has your back. Please have the communities back as you would another officers.
For months now on the GFPD Facebook page and on the local news the Police have been updating us on the latest phone scams. They have asked if we receive such a call to immediately call them to report it. So last night I got such a phone call. I called to report it like a good citizen. The gentleman I spoke to treated me like a small child. He talked down to me telling me it's a scam and they just want money an etc. I felt like next he was going to pat me on the head an tell me to go play. After I mentioned that people have been asked to report such calls, he reluctantly took the information. I actually felt like I was disturbing him with trivial matters. If the Police want the community help to report an put an end to these calls maybe they should have someone a little more people friendly to deal with this issue or train their people better people skills. No one wants to be treated this way. Thank you.
As a retired peace officer, I am embarrassed by your agencies response to the felonious conduct of those juveniles and professional skaters at the skatepark . Apparently , you either don't have any real crime issues to address or this is your approach to community policing . It was hard to tell . It is doubtful you'll be able to rectify the great leap backwards your officers managed to accomplish with their officious, heavy handed interactions with the juvenile violators of some hastily drawn and implemented municipal code designed to insulate the city from liability . Now , all those future taxpayers will, like so much of our nation have little or no interest in paying attention to you and our profession . If you don't fix this this in some meaningful, public manner you might as well just resign and get a job in Chicago or Detroit ,they're always looking for officers who don't object to behaving objectionably .
To the recent skatepark commentors, yeah that was total BS, but it was also 3 years ago. Your own experiences with the Great Falls PD might be more appropriate content for a review, don't you think? I've had some excellent experiences, and some not so great, with our city police. Small time crime seems to get ignored, which is too bad; who do you think graduates into the more serious crimes? However, this town has a dirty underbelly, and the police here do a good job, given what they are up against.
Tony's video had me smiling all the way through thinking how lucky these kids are...then the ending. Wow, unbelievably unprofessional people we are all supposed to support and respect. Could have used this as an opportunity to bond with your community, but then again, I've now got a good idea of how this community is.
Those cops that showed up at the skatepark should be ashamed of themselves. Cowards, all of them. They are the ones that belong behind bars. Power hungry nothings that were bullied in high school so now they take it out on innocent people. Truly worthless officers are employed at this department.
Come on guys. You can do better than what I saw on the video of the arrests at the skate park. Your authority should not be flaunted as being absolute. That is completely un-American. Please do better and issue an apology.
