Missoula's mayor outlines funding dilemma for homeless programs
MISSOULA, Mont. — The arrest of a man Sunday in Missoula’s authorized camp site shows how a private security company contracted by the city is patrolling at-risk sites.
Police say Rogers International helped officers when they arrived to an emergency call Sunday. One man claimed another man, Henry Hall, threatened him so he had no choice but to hit Hall in the head with a piece of wood.
Accounts show the Rogers International officer helped fill in some blanks for police, telling them where Hall hid after the incident and discussing behavior patterns that backed up the first man's story.
The Rogers contract with Missoula is capped this year at $670,000, the money from federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Mayor John Engen told us another round of federal funding is being planned for 2023. But it will run out, and the city is up against a cap on new tax levies.
Just the same, Engen told us that what he calls creative solutions to the homeless problem appear to be working.
We wanted to make sure you could hear the mayor’s comments in full, not edited for a broadcast:
The mayor also discussed what he calls the difficulty in finding grant money for programs:
