Belgrade police chief says injured officer recovering, department faces staffing crunch

Belgrade — Police Chief Lansing updated the council on a recent shooting that left one officer injured and another placed on administrative leave, saying the injured officer is “recovering well” but will face a long road to recovery and the department is experiencing a staffing crunch.

“On the night of the incident itself, we had Bozeman police cars patrolling and handling calls for us, until well after midnight when our staff could kinda regroup,” the chief said, describing mutual aid the department received. He added that the department has been “effectively down the majority of one full shift” because of officers placed on leave pending investigation, though many officers have volunteered for overtime shifts to maintain coverage.

Council members asked whether that staffing gap created concerns for daily operations and whether school resource officers were involved in a separate incident at a middle school earlier that day. The chief said SROs were involved “on the back end” and that patrol officers, with Central Valley Fire, handled the initial emergency response to a bicycle-versus-vehicle incident. He said an after-action review is underway but did not provide additional operational details during the meeting.

The chief also acknowledged support from neighboring and state agencies — he thanked the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Bozeman Police Department, Central Valley Fire, and the Montana Department of Justice for assistance and said staff remain in good spirits despite the recent events.