BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has joined other elected officials in calling for the FBI to establish a permanent presence in the eastern part of the state to watch over the Bakken oil patch.
The FBI put three employees in Sidney near the North Dakota border last July. There are proposals to transfer those temporary postings to Williston, N.D. and make them permanent.
Bullock wrote in a Thursday letter to FBI Director James Comey that they should remain in Sidney, an advantageous location that allows the agency to also cover North Dakota. Similar arguments have been made by the Montana congressional delegation.
A decision by FBI officials is pending.
Crime in both states has spiked as thousands of new workers bring drug traffickers in their wake.