The Origins of the Central Montana High-Risk Unit

Just a few days ago, I shared a story with you about twenty-two GFPD offices and six CCSO deputies getting deployed to Harlem, Montana to deal with a critical incident.

Unfortunately, the suspect involved in the incident wound up deceased because he thought going at officers armed with a gun would be a good idea.

And despite the severity of the situation, authorities are saying this was one of the smoothest operations ever coordinated between multiple agencies.

Harlem, Montana Critical Incident

On September 25, 2026, an "armed male suspect confronted officers" during an incident in Harlem. According to the officials: "The male suspect is deceased. Subsequently, law enforcement officers located female inside the residence deceased and unrelated to the officer involved critical incident."

Cascade County Sheriff Slaughter joined 560 KMON on Tuesday, Sept. 29th to reflect on the incident and he had nothing but praise for all of the agencies involved.

"This operation in particular was really well coordinated," Sheriff Slaughter said.

ALSO READ: 22 GFPD Officers and 6 CCSO Deputies Deployed to Harlem in Critical Incident

"We had Billings PD there, we had us, the Great Falls Police Department. We had, um, assets from like Valley County, Highway Patrol was there, FBI was there. We had, I think it was Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, they sent resources."

Throughout our conversation, the Sheriff detailed just how organized they were and I learned that this level of coordination took quite some time to get good at.

How Law Enforcement Coordinates Across Montana

If you're a bad person thinking of committing crime in Montana, you're going to have a bad time. Law enforcement doesn't mess around, especially with critical incidents.