Helena Police Withdraw From Drug Task Force Over Border Patrol Deployment

Helena Police Chief Brett Petty announced that the Helena Police Department withdrew from the Missouri River Drug Task Force after the task force moved to deploy U.S. Border Patrol agents to local operations. Petty told city commissioners that the withdrawal is intended to keep Helena policing focused on local drug activity and to avoid entangling the department in immigration enforcement.

Petty delivered the decision during a city commission meeting on January 23, 2026. “I decided to, for Helena PD, to temporarily withdraw from MRDTF because I wanna make sure and keep our focus here for Helena PD [on] the policing and the drug activity,” Petty said. Petty added that he has “some concerns” with Border Patrol presence and wanted to ensure HPD’s role remains centered on criminal investigations rather than federal immigration matters.

The Missouri River Drug Task Force, headquartered in Helena, includes law enforcement agencies from Lewis and Clark, Gallatin, Park, Meagher, Madison, Broadwater, and Sweet Grass counties and works with federal authorities on drug trafficking. Petty said the task force intends to deploy two Border Patrol agents in Helena and two in Bozeman under an agreement finalized last November. Petty said he would rather pause HPD participation to observe how Border Patrol integration plays out locally. “This is not to say that we will never be a part of MRDTF ever again, but I think the best way to do this right now is not enter into that agreement and bring a brief pause to it and see how this actually plays out here locally in Helena,” Petty said.

Commissioner Sean Logan asked whether the withdrawal would weaken Helena’s ability to address drug crime. Petty responded that the department’s capacity will remain intact. The current drug investigator assigned to the task force is part of the Helena Police criminal investigation division and will remain under HPD’s purview, though coordination with the task force could continue in other ways.

There are financial consequences to the pullout. Helena Police received $30,000 in annual funding for MRDTF participation and had already been paid half of that amount; Petty said the department will forfeit the remaining half after the new fiscal year. The decision arrives amid city and police department discussions about formal policies to govern local interaction with federal immigration authorities, and it followed a public meeting attended by about 30 people, most identified as immigration advocates.

Local advocates praised Petty’s move at the public meeting. “I do want to thank you, Chief Petty,” Ashley Fischer said. “I do appreciate that you have clearly heard from Helena citizens and taking action that you did on your withdrawal from commitment to the MRDTF. We do not have control over what is happening with the federal government, but we can do everything we can here to keep our community safe locally.”

For Helena residents, the immediate effect will be continuity in local investigative oversight even as regional drug-fighting partnerships shift. City officials and the MRDTF member agencies will now face decisions about how Border Patrol agents are used in Montana communities and how to balance federal partnerships with local priorities. The withdrawal leaves open the possibility that Helena could rejoin the task force pending reviews of Border Patrol activity and any formal local policies governing federal collaboration.