billings police department

After hearing our coverage on the youth violence taking place in Montana, one Billings mom decided to share her heartbreaking and frustrating story. Her open letter is below.

Law enforcement across the state is warning Montana residents to beware of a new iPhone update, but it it really as scary as it seems?

Why are we seeing gang activity in a state like Montana? What role do the Mexican drug cartels play? We caught up with Stacy Zinn who recently retired as the head of the DEA here in Montana.

What's driving the gang violence in a place like Billings, Montana? Where did some of those downtown transients go? How bad is it getting? Is there any good news when it comes to public safety in Montana's biggest town? We tackled that and more with the police chief and a couple council members.

Chief St. John: "Support has just been amazing. Very appreciative of that. He is in stable condition, doing well, on the way to recovery."

A Billings Police Officer is continuing to receive treatment at a local hospital after being shot by a suspect on Saturday morning, March 18th. This is now the second Montana police officer in two weeks to have been shot in the line of duty.

"Suicide is the number 1 killer of law enforcement officers, divorce rates are between 60 and 80 percent, alcohol abuse is high, and retention of officers is low. Occupational and traumatic stress are principal factors driving these statistics."

Despite news reports, a spokesman with the Billings Police Department confirmed that the incident in a Billings emergency room involved a male who identifies as a woman.

48 people were wanted by the police. They already had arrest warrants. Local police were ready, willing, and able to risk their lives to arrest these people- but there was nowhere to send them. There's been nearly 1,400 instances since the start of the year when this exact scenario has taken place.

A 24-hour convenience store located in midtown Billings has been robbed for the third time in less than 30 days, according to the @BillingsPD Twitter page.