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Meet Mike

Born and raised in Montana, Mike Linder has spent the past 27 years as a resident of Yellowstone County. Married to Tracy, a visual artist and his wife of 18 years, they live on the prairie northwest of Billings. Mike and Tracy are animal lovers and have adopted and raised several cats, dogs and horses over the years.

For 13 years Mike worked managing a family business before making the decision to pursue a career in law enforcement. In 1984, while still a businessman, Mike joined the ranks of Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Reserve. For nearly five years Mike volunteered countless hours serving the citizens of Yellowstone County. From the very beginning, besides normal patrol duties Mike would offer to pitch in whenever a need would arise. When the county needed security screens built and installed in the prisoner transport van, Mike donated his off time in the company shop to complete this task. When a Deputy on horseback was called for at the fair or for special events at the airport, Mike was their man. When there was a shortage of manpower at the county jail, Mike would fill in.

Then one day in Feb. 1987 a young boy fell through the ice into the Yellowstone River. Mike had just stopped by the Sheriff’s office when the emergency calls for scuba divers went out. No one could be reached so Mike, an experienced diver, retrieved his equipment and responded to the scene at the river. The only diver available, he went under the ice alone in an attempt to find the boy. Despite everyone’s best efforts the boy could not be saved. It was as early as this in his law enforcement life that Mike became an advocate for an organized search and rescue program in Yellowstone County. It is now 2010 and the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office still does not have an organized search and rescue program.

In 1989 a position in the county’s drug enforcement division became available. Then Sheriff Mike Schafer offered this position to Mike which is when he began his full time career in law enforcement. Mike spent the next 2 ½ years investigating illegal drug activity in Yellowstone County. Much of that time he worked undercover making cases against the drug dealers in our community. It was during his assignment in the drug unit that Mike attended the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. Finishing near the top of his class academically, Mike was awarded the academy firearms award.

After his stint in the Drug Enforcement Division, Mike transferred to the Patrol Division where he worked 2 1/2 years as a Resident Deputy in the Worden and Huntley area. In October 1994, Mike was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and in June 1998 was promoted to Lieutenant where he commanded the Patrol Division Afternoon Shift. Mike is a firm believer in leadership by example. For this reason he became involved in several programs. After becoming a certified EMT, Mike updated his own dive qualifications. During his career Mike has become a certified firearms instructor and a member of the river rescue team. He spent 13 years on the Sheriff’s SWAT Team including counter sniper, entry team leader and his last 4 years as overall team leader.

During his tenure on the SWAT team, Mike volunteered nearly a year of his own time and resources to completely rebuild a surplus military armored vehicle to be used in tactical situations. After an armed standoff at a local motel he designed and built a radio controlled robot to be used in similar situations. After seeing the robot at a law enforcement conference, the Missoula County Sheriff asked Mike to design and build a robot for their bomb squad. This robot is currently assigned to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad.

Some of Mike’s other assignments include:

• Reserve Force Coordinator
• Crime Stoppers and Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
• Community Relations Sergeant
• Department Quartermaster
• Extra Duty Coordinator

In 1994 Mike received the Billings Optimists Club “Officer of the Year” award as well as the St. Vincent Hospital “Life Saving” Award. In 2005 he was presented with the American Red Cross and St. Vincent Health Care “Hero Award”. In 2006 Mike was a candidate for Sheriff of Yellowstone County. Despite losing in a close election to the 14 year incumbent, Mike has always been proud of the fact that he was publicly endorsed by the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Deputy’s Union. Mike currently holds the rank of a Detective Lieutenant. After the 2006 election he was re-assigned to the U.S. Marshals Montana Violent Offender Task Force, a position he currently serves in. In 2009, Mike attended a Regional Fugitive Task Force training with the US Marshals in Atlanta, GA. He also serves as Chairman of the “Big Sky 11” Consortium Technical Committee. This is a program that is bringing statewide interoperable public safety radio communications to our community.

“I am very proud of my accomplishments during my 25 year affiliation with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office. I am a dedicated, professional law enforcement officer and am committed to serving the citizens of Yellowstone County”.

Lt. Mike Linder