Montana law enforcement leaders to head Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Executive Board

BILLINGS – U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme and Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation Administrator Bryan Lockerby have been appointed to head the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) Executive Board.

Administrator Lockerby is the chairman, and U.S. Attorney Alme is the vice chair. Alme will serve as chairman next year. Alme, Lockerby and Billings Police Chief Rich St. John also serve as the Montana Executive Subcommittee for the RMHIDTA.

The RMHIDTA, based in Denver, CO, brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement to target large drug-trafficking organizations. Montana, along with Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are part of the RMHIDTA. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy oversees 29 HIDTA programs nationwide.

RMHIDTA’s Executive Board is responsible for identifying major threats, developing strategies to address those threats and allocating funds to the various drug task forces that have HIDTA designation. The Executive Board also is responsible for policy and procedures, assuring annual fiscal and operational audits are completed and that HIDTA task forces meet expectations.

 “It’s an honor to be selected to lead the four Rocky Mountain states during such a critical time,” Lockerby said. “State borders mean little to drug traffickers and so interagency cooperation on regional strategies is the best way to disrupt illicit drug operations. As a task force our goal is to provide law enforcement professionals in the Rocky Mountains states with tools that will help them do their critical work.”

RMHIDTA Director Tom Gorman praised Montana’s leadership and law enforcement community. “I’m from the East Coast and did 30 years of law enforcement in California. I have learned a great deal about relationships in Montana’s criminal justice system. They are highly motivated and work well together,” Gorman said.

“I can’t say enough about U.S. Attorney Alme, DCI Administrator Lockerby and Billings Police Chief Rich St. John for their support, guidance and always striving to make things better. Honestly, they can be a pain but always for the right reason, and that is to make our program more effective and efficient. They keep staff hopping and on their toes, which is a good thing,” Gorman said.

“Meth and other drugs are causing violent crime and many other serious problems,” U.S. Attorney Alme said. “Along with effective prevention and treatment, we need to remove these dangerous dealers from our communities. I am honored to work with Administrator Lockerby, Director Gorman and all the men and women of the task forces who work hard every day to keep these poisons out of our communities.”

Montana plays a major role in the program, with five HIDTA task forces, a Montana Highway Patrol Criminal Interdiction program and a prevention and treatment component of drug policy. Montana’s law enforcement also participates in the leadership of the program. For the past 10 years, a key committee that manages budgets and allocation of funds has been chaired by Chief St. John and more recently by Administrator Lockerby.

MHIDTA manages 23 multi-agency drug task forces, four criminal interdiction programs, training, intelligence and management initiatives. This includes 10 federal, 15 state and 109 local agencies with a total of more than 500 full-time sworn personnel and 50 support personnel, including analysts. These task forces annually average dismantling or disrupting more than 100 international, multi-state or local drug-trafficking organizations.

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