HELENA — The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office and Helena Police Department's SWAT team responded to a standoff in Bozeman early Wednesday morning to support the Bozeman Police Department.
Lewis and Clark County Undersheriff Brent Colbert says his pager went off after midnight, and the team headed to Bozeman shortly after.
The SWAT team was on standby in the incident area but never deployed.
Mutual aid between counties ensures authorities will be on the scene until an emergency is resolved, no matter how long it takes.
"A lot of the citizens are going, 'Why are we sending our people somewhere else?' if we need help, their county is going to send them somewhere else. All of our deputies and first responders, that is always in the back of their mind going, 'That is awesome that somebody is going to come here and give me a break, and I'm going to give them a break when I have a chance to,'" said Colbert.
He says proximity and staffing determine when they get a call for mutual aid.
Calls for the SWAT team typically come in a few times a year.
The last time the team was sent to another county was in March to Billings.
Our MTN station in Bozeman is reporting on the incident and you can find that story here.
