Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges council to restore police advisory board as public raises BID audit concerns
Summary
During public comment, resident Katie Harrison urged the council not to pause the Citizens Police Advisory Board while an update is being made, citing reporting of about 170 potential police misconduct cases; other commenters invited officials to community events and raised questions about a downtown BID audit.
Katie Harrison, a South Side Billings resident, used the public comment period to press council members to stop what she called an "arbitrary pause" on the Citizens Police Advisory Board and to restore full transparency in police oversight. "A 170 potential cases of misconduct or mishandling of cases is a 170 too many," she said, adding that recent reporting and a follow‑up update make the timing of the pause especially troubling.
Harrison described specific personal concerns and FOIA searches that, she said, left at least one hate‑crime case unresolved and sent to the FBI. She told the council the pause on boards and commissions appeared to be driven by a small number of officials and said decisions that affect about 150,000 residents should not be made by one or two people.
Other speakers in public comment included Jonathan Mauger of the Downtown Billings Rotary, who invited council to the Billings Rotary Memorial Parade on May 23 and described a growth in participation, and Jeff Kettleson, who criticized the downtown Business Improvement District’s leadership and urged council to withhold a roughly $500,000 funding decision until an audit (requested in November 2025) is produced. "Where is the audit, and what does it say?" Kettleson asked the council.
Why it matters: the Citizens Police Advisory Board and other oversight bodies provide community input on policing policy; a pause in their work while other processes are under way creates public concern about transparency. The BID and its use of TIF funds were also flagged by multiple speakers as matters for closer scrutiny.
What’s next: council closed public comment and moved to the evening’s budget agenda. Members and staff did not take action on the advisory‑board pause during the meeting; the concerns raised are likely to surface in future correspondence and work sessions.
