As New Year’s Eve approaches, the Bozeman Police Department gets ready

Bozeman, Montana – The Bozeman Police Department may have a busy weekend ahead of it as they get ready to assist the community in securely ringing in the new year.

“We especially take into account on New Year’s or New Year’s Eve, we do see people drinking more. We do also see people gathering more, so we might get some noise complaints; fireworks, certainly that comes up,” says Patrol Captain Joe Swanson.

However, Swanson claims that the department gets its officers ready to deal with any situation that can arise on the holiday.

“I think what we always are striving to do is sufficiently staff our shifts so that we have several officers to be proactive throughout the city, looking for traffic violations or other issues. Or just making non-enforcement contact with citizens,” he says.

Before igniting your midnight fireworks, the patrol captain would want to remind locals that the Bozeman City Commission approved a new ordinance in May 2023 that forbade the sale or discharge of fireworks within the Bozeman city limits.

Swanson acknowledges that the usage of illegal drugs has increased in Bozeman.

“Recently we’ve seen an uptick in fentanyl-related overdoses, and having officers—you know, ensuring that their equipment and medical equipment they do carry in their car is ready, serviceable, and available,” Swanson says.

Swanson offers the following advice if you’re going out to celebrate the new year to keep everyone safe:

“Just having a plan before you leave home is the best advice we can give anyone. Travel in groups if you’re going to be walking on foot, have a charged cell phone ready to go, and dress for the temperatures. And certainly, if you feel like you’ve had too much to drink, do not get into your vehicle and drive. There are so many other options available here to keep yourself safe, as well as the rest of the motoring public.”