Officers join T. Falls police

Police work can be a dangerous and thankless job, especially in today's world. However, there are still those who answer the call to service. This year the Thompson Falls Police Department (TFPD) has welcomed two new officers, both of whom say that policing can also be extremely rewarding.

The first officer welcomed to the department this year was Michael Derry, who was hired on February 10. Derry grew up in Thompson Falls and graduated high school here in 2002. He went to college to teach and ended up working as a detention officer near Troy. He was then a reserve officer there and finally decided to apply to be a full-time officer. He applied and got accepted back in his hometown of Thompson Falls.

Derry took one week of online courses before starting at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in Helena in April, and graduated on June 4. He completed 12 weeks of classes and training, however had to do so in such a way that is unprecedented. Because that time was the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, law enforcement classes had to be altered to fit into social distancing and quarantine guidelines. Since the recruits would have to participate in close proximity training, they were all quarantined for two weeks before starting with the academy.

"Hand sanitizer was everywhere," said Derry as he described the length that was taken to ensure the health of the participants during that time. Derry wants to give back to his community and feels there are few better ways than wearing a shield.

The other officer, who just previously worked with the Sanders County Sheriff's office, is Officer Roy Scott, who started with the Thompson Falls Police Department July 21. Scott worked for the TFPD years ago. He started in Sanders County working in detention with the sheriff's office. After a year of probation with the sheriff he worked as a deputy for them. He recently decided to switch back to work for the TFPD to focus more on the area in which he lives, saying that both the sheriff's office and the TFPD have made impressive impacts on the area just in a short time. He said the thing that brought him back to the area he lived in as a youth was the fact that crime had shot up.

Scott believes that he can make a bigger impact focusing more on the community of Thompson Falls. "I love what I do, I absolutely love it," Scott said. He has been doing police work in the county since 2016. He says, "Everybody needs help, no matter who they are." Scott expressed the importance of police, not just in law enforcement, but in civil protection and in giving back to the community as well as being there when people need them.