Has anyone just sat outside Lincoln school for about 20 minutes after the kids are let out? I had the opportunity today, since I was waiting for my kid for 20 minutes to just wait in my vehicle right by Seabecks and let me tell you if I was a cop I could have pulled over about 5 teenagers who were speeding through the school zone. And it just isn't teenagers, I see some parents flying down the street as well. About two years ago my son and another boy almost got hit by a girl flying down the street in the school zone and not paying attention; she was on her cell phone you know. That area by the high school needs to be policed more. I know, only a week left of school, but seriously someone is going to get hit.

Yes.....I've seen similar incidents myself. I would suggest that a Miles City police officer spend a week sitting at one end or the other end of the block that is in front of Lincoln School, the High School, and Washington - there are a number of violations occuring on a daily basis that would generate income for the city!

It would be a GREAT improvement if the streets around the schools were turned into one way streets!

Another improvement would be enforcement of the school bus parking zones.

I use to live on Pearl and I followed officers several times go past lincoln and tried to catch up with them, just to see how fast they were traveling and it was close to 30 MPH, I kept behind them even though I was speeding and they parked at the police station and casually walked to the door. "Coffee time?" Any one else notice that officers don't heed the speed limit?

We lived across the street from Lincoln for almost 30 years. This has always been the way it is - it's nothing new, unfortunately.

Some quote about doing what we've always done comes to mind.

In Jan I was in a large sized car wreck just over by there. I was just driving ans some HS kid talking on his phone ran a stop sign! Hit me right on, so hard that I almost hit another child that was on teh side walk on the other side of the street. So far my husband has seen 8 different DRs, has has MRIs, CATs, lots of blood drawn, and now is looking at surgery! So there has been many hit over in that area! Its just you dont hear alot of about them!

Yes, I've seen it myself! I opened my car door to get out and get my kids and almost lost my door and a few other things! I'm not one to keep my mouth shut so of course I yell and then I get the dirty look like I was the one in the wrong. I live in the Jefferson school zone and the same thing happens. I don't know the answer but I like the one way street idea. That doesn't cost any money except a few signs. Another idea is make every intersection a 4-way stop...or put speed bumps in. The right way, not like at the college where you could drive around them and they were so little that it didn't matter if you slowed down or not!

Just my two cents on the issue!

You were in the wrong- you can't open your car door if it will interfere with traffic. But, I do agree that some speed bumps would come in handy!!

Considering some vehicles are x-tra wide - dully pickups, school buses, etc. - making streets surrounding the schools one-way thoroughfares seems to be the most logical and most cost effective. Also, limiting on-street parking only to the 'off' side from the school buildings so that the buses and through traffic can maneuver more easily.....these relatively simple solutions would also make the situation safer for the school children. Maybe the school officials and the city officials can work on the problem over the summer??

Maybe if this town paid it cops more than 14.97 an hour you could keep the good ones here to patrol the school zones. It is no suprise that the turnover in police officers are so high. I think that it is horrible and very sad that cops who put thier lives on the line everyday for the protection of the people of this town are getting paid less than the manager of Dairy Queen. This town has a surplus of money and it should put it to good use....GIVE THE POLICE FORCE A RAISE!!!!!

Actually, it is $14.63 for base pay. I know only because my husband is one of the newest officers in the city.

hum low wages, I always wondered why some of them seemed to always be pissed off, or were on power trips.. maybe that explains it

It really doesn't bother us. We lived on less as active duty military.

WOW ! $14.63 base pay, I really don't think that's to bad for Miles City wage. And especially, when really not much happens in Miles City.

Andrea Stemson

You pay me $14.97 an hr. and I will patrol the school zones.

I sure would not complain!!!

[This message has been edited by JaDee (5/24/2011)]

I do know one of the new cops and you could not pay me 14 bucks an hour for what he has had to put up with....and just because you think there is no crime in this town does not mean that they do not put thier lives on the line every day to protect us. I for one am all for paying our cops way more money than what they are getting paid. I guess I just respect and appreciate the people who are helping keep my family safe and I appreciate the sacrifice their families make for having a husband and dad as a cop.

That's less than $35K/year (obviously not taking into account overtime, etc) - If those are "good wages" for Miles City, then I think I see a problem.

Yeah, cops are getting gunned down in Miles City every time you turn around.

Dealing with drunks is a big pain, as is dealing with errant teens. I wouldn't do it for 15 bucks an hour.

I wouldn't either, but "putting their lives on the line every day" seemed a bit dramatic to me. On the other hand, I think some folks who have moved away might be surprised at how little it takes to have a pretty comfortable living in Miles City. I took a pretty outrageous pay cut when I moved back but I honestly don't feel like I have a lot less spending money than I did in California. Living in a city is very expensive.

FWIW, I think the cops probably do better than a lot of school teachers, in the rural schools particularly.

Andrea Stemson,
I guess you just a good citizen!!

Levi Forman,
I would have to agree with you!!

Bridgier,
There always been a problem with wages around here. With a population of between 8,000 and 9,000 people $40,000.That's really not to bad.
I guess Idaho is just better !

Wendy Wilson,
Same as above, And like you said(dealing with drunks and errant teens), WOW! I wish I had those problems and get $40,000 a year plus overtime.
I guess Utah is the state to live in right??

I do have a question, I thought this is Miles City.com not out of state dot com ? ?

No Levi, living in California is expensive - Boise is about as expensive to live in as Billings. Is the housing and food that much cheaper in MC?

I agree with Levi. That is more than some teachers and school staff make. A lot of them deal with teens everyday.

Some of it is just perspective as well. It's been shown scientifically that people's happiness with their wages is greatly effected not just by the absolute amount, but also the amount relative to the people around them. I don't know of one house in MC that has a back yard pool, and I don't think a lot of people spend time feeling bad about that, but if all of your neighbors have one, then suddenly you feel inadequate if you don't have one. You don't see people driving around in $100,000 cars in Miles City and you don't see them dropping $300 on a night out on the town. People's lifestyle expectations are lower here than they are in a lot of places. It's much more important to feel rich than to actually be rich.

[This message has been edited by Levi Forman (5/24/2011)]

JaDee,

Wendy Wilson,
Same as above, And like you said(dealing with drunks and errant teens), WOW! I wish I had those problems and get $40,000 a year plus overtime.
I guess Utah is the state to live in right??

Dealing with drunks is no simple matter, especially in a state like Montana where guns are prolific. And any highway patrol officer will tell you that one of the scariest parts of the job occurs when he's walking up to a car during a traffic stop. Minimizing the danger in those situations shows your ignorance. And no, I don't think Utah is anything special when it comes to crime. It has double the rate of forcible rapes per 100,000 people that New York has. I've worked with cops and I know what they do. You obviously do not. And I grew up in Miles City so nanny, nanny, boo-boo to you.

I have to agree with Levi. You can live very comfortably in Miles City if you have two income earners each making $35,000 annually. To answer part of Bridgier's questions, it is not my opinion that this is due to lower housing costs. Property taxes here are close to twice what they are in Boise and the surrounding communities, and then factor in flood insurance premiums for most of the city. I don't think that people who've left Miles City understand the current market. You would be surprised at what $150,000 buys you in Miles City. I've known quite a few people who have moved back expecting to get a lot of bang for their buck, only to be unpleasantly surprised, especially those moving back from the land of suburbs with newer homes to the land of hasn't been updated since 1986.

Now, renting is a little bit different scenario. As someone who lived in Boise during the 1990s, when we moved back to Miles City, the rent differential was substantial. However, this is almost a non-issue at this point. I know that rent continues to be lower in Miles City, though not as much as it was in the past, but when it is impossible to find adequate rental housing, this is not much consolation.

I think that Levi has hit the nail on the head with expectations. If people in Miles City can live comfortably on $70,000 annually (and I use this amount arbitrarily because it was the amount quoted), then it makes you wonder what "necessities" other folks in communities with comparable costs of living could do without.

$70,000 will get a quite a ways to "comfortable" in Boise. I just went and looked at the starting pay for a BPD patrol officer: 40K. So, perhaps not so far off of MC after all.

And still much cheaper than California.

There is a reason why cops pack guns at work and teachers don't. Go talk to a local cop and ask them what kind of calls they have to go out on and what they have to deal with and I think you will find that is more than policing school zones and dealing with roudy teens. One of my friends is a local cop and I feel that he deals with way too much to get paid 14 an hour. Cops in this town have had their personal vehicles broken into just because they are cops so you cannot tell me that what they are doing in dangerous not only for them but their families if people are coming to their homes to vandalize their property and break into their cars.

There is a reason why cops pack guns at work and teachers don't.

Yeah, teachers have balls.

14 bucks an hour is pretty laughable, but if it's anything like the force here, they're high school (hopefully) graduates with no qualification other than a warm body and a short criminal record. I bet you won't find any of them with criminal justice degrees and if you do, they're called Sarge or Chief and make $30 an hour... just like it's supposed to be.

And I was going to change my name to St. Buck, but the hell with it. I was raptured, the coverage up here is BS, though - Wild Blue.

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (5/24/2011)]

Perhaps their qualifications include twenty years of service in the Marine Corps, multiple deployments, including OEF/OIF, etc. We chose Miles City because it was a small town .(we were also offered a position at the Chicago PD ) We were stationed in Billings for a while and fell in love with Montana, and knew upon retirement that we would look for work here. It is a good place to raise our children, away from the gangs and crime where I grew up in Los Angeles, California.
The pay isn't comparable to other entry level positions statewide, but again, with our retirement , we don't really mind it.
Is it slower paced? Definitely. Is it less dangerous? Some days, sure. He is enjoying himself, and that is all that matters to me.

And still much cheaper than California.

It's true that the Bay Area is an extreme example. "Comfortable" in that area is closer to two $70k incomes than 2 $35k ones.

Buck

You need to do a little more research....I do know some of the cops in this town and they have a lot more background in law enforcement than you think. I do not care what the average household income in Miles City is...that has nothing to do with paying your cops what they are getting paid when this is not your average job flippin burgers or working on oil rigs....as far as I am concerned police are in the top most importanat jobs in any town and deserve to get paid better than they do here. Very sad.

Take home pay will be roughly $24,500, annually. I am not sure where the $40 k came in. I suppose he may someday make $40 k with overtime on every available shift, plus the shift differential. He has been there just over a month and has only had two days with overtime. For what it's worth, we will be a family of seven living on that income with his retirement and anticipate living just fine. We also carry minimal debt, so that helps.

I was a bit surprised at the high cost of food. I live in Salt Lake City, UT , currently, and we enjoy good prices with great selection. I imagine distance and location play a factor, but do people really drive into Billings to shop?

as far as I am concerned police are in the top most importanat jobs in any town and deserve to get paid better than they do here.

So would you support a 30% increase in your property taxes to accomplish that objective? I don't think anyone purposefully wants police work in to be low paying and it is easy to sit here and pontificate "the way things ought to be". But then there are the economic realities of such proposed actions.

Personally, I believe the hardest working and most economically under-appreciated person in the city is the Mayor. IMO, he need a boost in salary long before the police.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr. (5/24/2011)]

I was raptured, the coverage up here is BS, though - Wild Blue.

Hate to break it to you, but you are not in heaven.

Make the cops wages the $14 whatever an hour and then throw on a $10 bonus every time they bust a speeder. $20 extra for every speeder stopped in a school zone. $30 extra on a dui conviction. Add these dollars directly to the fine the person pays. I bet you'd see some cops in school zones.

I always thought of law enforcement as self serving tax collectors anyways. The more taxes they collect, the easier to pay their own salaries. Don't get me worng, they do a lot of good...and I am not anti-cop like Ice-T. But do you ever wonder about quottas??? There's a reason for them. $$$$

I think people need to take a moment to understand something. The guys that are getting paid $14.63 applied for a position that paid $14.63, not something else. Yes, highly qualified they may all be, but there were only $14.63 positions open. It sucks, but if you want to get paid better you have to find a position that pays better, not bitch because someone took a position they are overqualified for.

And I'm not directing this at Jade S. It sounds like Jade S has a firm grip on reality and MC scored an experienced officer at a discount rate. This was meant for the other 86% of the population.

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (5/25/2011)]