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City of Missoula, Montana Item to be Referred to City Council Committee Committee: Public Safety and Health Item: Adoption of new ordinance – enabling police jurisdiction Date: 4/6/2010 Prepared by: Mark Muir Initiated by: Mark Muir, Chief of Police Action Required: Hold a public hearing on the adoption of a new ordinance amending MMC Title 2, Chapter 2.32 by creating new Section 2.32.060 giving Missoula Police arrest authority to 5 miles outside the city limits. Recommended Motion: I move the City Council set a public hearing to consider adoption of an ordinance extending the arrest jurisdiction of Missoula police officers. Timeline: Referral to committee: 4/12/2010 Committee discussion: TBD/ASAP Council acts to set hearing: TBD/ASAP Public Hearing: TBD/ASAP Deadline: None Background and Alternatives Explored: At present, Missoula police have the legal authority to enforce criminal law and make arrests only within the city limits. Over the course of many years, Missoula has annexed numerous parcels of non-contiguous property resulting in "outlying islands" of public safety service areas that require police officers to travel outside the city limits to reach these areas. Between the contiguous areas and the "islands", officers presently have no arrest authority beyond that of a regular citizen. Should an officer make an arrest outside the city limits, he/she must notify the nearest law enforcement agency with jurisdiction and turn the matter over to that agency. The city limits boundaries are not easily recognizable on the ground, which makes it possible for officers to be inadvertently on the wrong side of the boundary without knowing it. This places our police department and police officers in a position of civil liability which can be avoided by passing an enabling ordinance as authorized in Montana Codes Annotated, 7-32-4301. City limit boundaries are seldom neat and consistent on the edges and are only marked along major thoroughfares. Officers also frequently must leave the city limits to follow-up on crimes committed within the city limits where the suspects may live nearby, but outside the city limits. Officers must seek the assistance of the Sheriff's office to take enforcement actions on these occasions. Additionally, crimes being committed on the outside fringe of the city limits may dispatched improperly based on the address of a city resident calling in a nearby problem. The responding officer would have ---PAGE BREAK--- legitimate authority to resolve the problem under the proposed extension of jurisdiction and arrest powers. Financial Implications: Reduction of civil liability and improved efficiency by not having to wait for available deputies. Attachments: Ordinance Number (Police Jurisdiction)