Most People Don’t Think About Montana Criminal Records When They Are Considering a Trip to the State
When you think of Montana, you generally picture the mountains and the wildlife. Most people plan trips to Montana in hopes of hunting for big game such as elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, bear, or mountain lion; fishing for pike or trout in the Missouri River, or skiing down the mountain ranges. Most people don’t think about Montana criminal records when they are considering a trip to the state.
With close to one million residents, Montana is ranked forty-fourth in population. However, with an area of nearly one hundred fifty thousand square miles, Montana is ranked fourth in size. There are fifty-six counties situated throughout the state. Helena is the capital city, located in Lewis and Clark County, and has close to thirty-thousand residents, while Billings is the largest city with a population of just over one hundred thousand. Missoula, Missoula, the second largest city in Montana is located in the western part of the state in Missoula County and has a population near one hundred thousand. Great Falls, also known as the Electric City due to its five hydroelectric dams, is located in Cascade County and has a population of about sixty thousand. Crime rates are very low throughout the entire state. According to Montana criminal records, the state is ranked 30th for murder, 50th for rape, 47th for robbery, 46th for assault, 47th for burglary, and 39th for vehicle theft. Most cities in the state have crime rates that are well below the national average.
Known as the Magic City, Billings is located in the south central part of the state in Yellowstone County, which is the most populated county in Montana with nearly 140,000 residents. The least populated county in the state is Petroleum County with less than five hundred residents. In 1993, Billings made national news. Hate activists and Neo-Nazis congregated and began distributing KKK flyers. They vandalized the Jewish cemetery, painted swastikas on the home of a Native-American family, and threw a brick through the window where a child had a Mennorah on display for Hanukkah. The residents of Billings conducted marches and held vigils. Over ten thousand homes and businesses hung paper Mennorahs that were printed by the Billings Gazette in their windows, despite the risk that the windows would be broken. They drove the hate activists and Neo-Nazis out peacefully during what was called the Not in Our Town phenomenon, and Billings became known as the Paradigm City, meaning that the city’s residents were exemplary in their actions. Not many Montana criminal records are attributed to hate crimes. The state’s population is predominantly non-Hispanic whites, with some African Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, and Latinos living among them. Native Americans generally live on or near the state’s seven Indian Reservations.