A non-profit called the Polson Police Foundation was launched at the end of 2025 to support the department by contributing to training, officer wellness, critical equipment and community initiatives.  

The nonprofit foundation was started by a couple of residents, including Brady Phenicie, a member of the Polson Police Commission — a group that interviews potential officers for the department — to support the department after significant budget cuts.  

The foundation board is composed of three members, including Phenicie as president, secretary Lori Abrahamson, and member Kim Phenicie, with a fourth stepping in soon. As president, Phenicie coordinates with Polson Police Chief George Simpson to determine what the department needs, and from there, the board approves the item and gives it to the department.  

Simpson explained that the department operates on an estimated $1.2 million annual budget. However, last year, the city took a conservative approach to the budget ahead of legislative changes and set aside a 28% reserve, effectively cutting the general fund and police department budgets.  

Simpson calls funding a “multi-dimensional issue,” with patrol cars and “HR funds,” such as employee compensation and workers compensation, eating into his budget. But two other factors are hiring and investigations.  

Both time and associated expenses in hiring a new officer hurt the budget. Simpson explained that the background requirements in hiring an officer can take two to four months.  

“It’s a career, not a job. It’s pretty invasive, how much stuff we have to go through, but that’s how we hire the best officers,” Simpson said.  

He said that for every officer they hire, it costs $8,000 to $10,000 to attend the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and equipment. This is due to many portions of the officer's uniform being tailored or specific to the officer. 

Another hurdle he noted is the average time an officer stays at the department, which is currently 2.1 years. This struggle stems from other departments, such as Kalispell, paying $12 more an hour and Missoula paying around $18 more an hour.  

“It's very difficult to compete with that,” Simpson said, especially when larger agencies are willing to pay more for an experienced officer, giving them a substantial raise.  

Simpson also explained he can’t budget for the number of crimes they will need to investigate in any given year. For example, crimes such as homicides, of which the department had two last year, take months to investigate, require hours of overtime, incur crime lab fees, and involve “dumping” cell phones — the process of extracting data from a seized phone.   

Department and officer support  

The foundation has already stepped in and provided the department with counseling services for officers and their families, as well as a printer.  

The department received a $158,690 Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act Implementation Program grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2023, according to previous Leader reporting. This grant supported mental health programs for the department's officers, five retired officers and Lake County Emergency Communication Center’s 15 dispatchers, along with their immediate families.  

“They have so many traumatic experiences. So it's really important that their mental health and wellness is taken care of, but that comes with a price tag, and that grant ran out in September, and the foundation has taken that role,” Simpson said. He considers these services the most important to offer to his officers. “So that was huge.”  

Simpson explained that the printer went down and would take days to fix. Considering it was an immediate need and substantial purchase for the department, the foundation remedied the situation.  

He noted another major role for the foundation is to help cover the cost of training and equipment, as the technology used for record keeping continues to change.  

He is also a big proponent of officer community involvement and said, “That’s why we exist.” The department offers Stop the Bleed, active shooter, robbery and shoplifting training for both local organizations and businesses. He noted this is another aspect that the foundation helps cover.  

Simpson has also wanted to do a citizens' academy for years to educate the community on what their local law enforcement does. He hasn’t had the funding for it and has attempted to secure grant funding, which has been unsuccessful. 

Now that the foundation is in place, he’s able to host a Polson Citizens Police Academy on Fridays from 6-8 p.m. and select Saturdays from April 3 to June 12.  

Phenicie said one of the next big goals of the foundation is to purchase some bulletproof shields for the department, which each cost $7,000. While he noted that the department can purchase a patrol car each year, he hopes that in a few years, the foundation can purchase one for the department.  

Phenicie also hopes to leverage donations and grants to provide a larger office space for them.  

Simpson said he is grateful to have a community that saw a need and stepped up to help. He explained that it is heartbreaking to see how officers are treated across the country, but “here in our backyard, you have citizens coming to the door,” and asking how they can help.  

To learn more about the foundation visit www.polsonpolicefoundation.com.