08/28/2020
(Helena, Mont.)—Matt Rosendale issued the following statement on the passage of a budget amendment by the Missoula City Council, which slashes the overtime training budget of the police department by $77,352.
“I find these efforts to chip away at funding for law enforcement incredibly troubling and irresponsible. The funds the city of Missoula wants to cut from the police budget would provide additional training in areas like implicit bias and de-escalation. If anything, we need to be providing our law enforcement officers with more resources and more training—not asking them to put their lives on the line without the resources to do their jobs.
Unlike my radical opponent, who continues to remain silent on these critical issues, I will always support law enforcement and the incredibly difficult job they do to keep the rest of us safe. We need to elect leaders who will stand up for public safety, not bend to the will of out-of-state extremists who want to defund our law enforcement.”