This is an interesting tidbit from the article...
****Hilton also said he planned a helicopter tour of the region in coming days to look at real estate for a planned tactical military training ground. He said 5,000 to 10,000 acres were needed to complement the training center, a $17 million project.****
Then there is this...
****On Friday, American Police Force announced its first local hire: a reporter for the Billings Gazette, Becky Shay, who has covered events surrounding the jail since its construction. She will be the company’s spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.
Shay said she intended to bring new transparency to the process, but declined to directly answer the first question posed to her: Where is American Police Force getting the money to operate the jail and build the training center?
“I know enough about where the money is coming from to be confident signing on with them,” she said.
Gazette Editor Steve Prosinski said he was first informed about Shay’s decision to leave the paper on Friday. “We weren’t aware that she was talking with them about employment,” he said.
Hilton said he also had a job discussion with Kerri Smith, wife of Two Rivers Authority Executive Director Greg Smith, who helped craft the deal to bring American Police Force to Hardin. Greg Smith was placed on unpaid leave two weeks ago for reasons that have not been explained.
Kerri Smith is one of two finalists in the city’s mayoral race. Hilton said he asked her to call him about possible employment if she did not win the race.****
This has bad vibes out the wazoo...
Another thread:
Who is “American Police Force,” why did they scrub their site today?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2350982/posts
with link to this article late in the thread:
http://www.examiner.com/x-14795-Page-One-Examiner~y2009m9d29-American-Police-Force