Shay is top Billings employee

A Columbia Falls native was recently named the employee of the year by the Billings Police Department.

Becky Shay is a crime analyst with the department, which has about 200 employees. Daughter of former Hungry Horse News writer Gladys Shay, she started with the department in 2010.

Shay graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Journalism and worked as a reporter for the Billings Gazette for several years. In 2009, she briefly worked as the spokesperson for the American Police Force, a company planning to privatize a prison in Hardin.

The prison idea went badly after it was revealed the company’s front man had a decidedly checkered past, including a conviction for grand theft. American Police Force folded, and Shay ended up out of a job. All she ever received from the company was a signing bonus and a laptop computer.

After that, Shay went to work for the Billings Police Department. Her office is in a former jail cell, she said, but she enjoys the work and is grateful for the respect from her peers and supervisors.

A Columbia Falls native was recently named the employee of the year by the Billings Police Department.

Becky Shay is a crime analyst with the department, which has about 200 employees. Daughter of former Hungry Horse News writer Gladys Shay, she started with the department in 2010.

Shay graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Journalism and worked as a reporter for the Billings Gazette for several years. In 2009, she briefly worked as the spokesperson for the American Police Force, a company planning to privatize a prison in Hardin.

The prison idea went badly after it was revealed the company’s front man had a decidedly checkered past, including a conviction for grand theft. American Police Force folded, and Shay ended up out of a job. All she ever received from the company was a signing bonus and a laptop computer.

After that, Shay went to work for the Billings Police Department. Her office is in a former jail cell, she said, but she enjoys the work and is grateful for the respect from her peers and supervisors.