Guest Opinion: Montana Doesn't Have Nor Want a State Police

In Montana we don’t have to worry about a knock at the door at night followed by a gruff voice declaring, “This is the state police, and we want to talk to you.”

Every four years we Montanans vote for our County Sheriff, the head of law enforcement for our counties. Likewise, in our local elections, we vote for city commissioners or council members and mayors who control the city police. Local control of law enforcement is a firmly established governmental principle here in Montana and in much of the rest of the nation.

Even at the national level, police power is extraordinarily limited. The f...