Law Enforcement Collaborated to Capture Michael Brown in Montana

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen called in to the KGVO Talk Back show on Wednesday to provide the latest information on last week’s fatal shooting in Anaconda, when Michael Brown was finally taken into custody.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen called into Talk Back on Wednesday

Knudsen said despite the numerous law enforcement agencies on the scene, there was no ‘turf war’ over who was in charge.

“At no point did the state, or at no point did the feds have any authority to step in and say, ‘You know what, county sheriff, you're out. We're in',” began Knudsen. “That's not how we do things in Montana. Your local sheriff really is your highest elected law enforcement official.”

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Knudsen said There was Great Communication Between Law Enforcement Agencies

Knudsen said there was great cooperation between all the agencies as they searched for the suspect, Michael Brown.

“The local police departments, like Sheriff Ed Lester from Butte Silver Bell County, did a great job stepping in,” he said. “He ran a lot of the comms (communications), and took point on some of the incident. We really did have a collaborative team here, but you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that my own DCI (Department of Criminal Investigation) administrator, Lee Johnson. Lee did an absolutely fantastic job helping out with leadership on this one.”

He Said the $10,000 Reward Brought in Many Useless Tips

Knudsen said once a large reward was offered for tips on capturing the suspect, many useless calls came in.

“You're getting a lot of tips, especially when the U.S. Marshals Service stepped up and put up a reward,” he said. “That really upped the number of public tips that we were getting. That was the good news. The bad news is, I mean, a lot of those were just garbage tips. That's just a fact. We were getting phone calls from across the country talking about how he was part of the Illuminati, and this was a conspiracy to deflect from the Vatican or something crazy like that.”

One unusual aspect of the investigation turned out to be a matter of communications using different radio frequencies.

Knudsen said Competing Radio Frequencies was a Problem in the Search

“Everybody's using a different radio frequency and a different radio technology,” he said. “That sounds a little silly and wonky, but that really was a problem for us. I mean, the feds are on a different channel, the locals are on a different channel. All the different agencies are running on a different channel. This is really something that we've been trying to deal with in Montana for several years. Now, I've got a full-time staffer that works for me, and this is all she does.”

Brown remains in jail on $2 million bond, charged with four counts of deliberate homicide.

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