Yellowstone has been one of the most popular shows on television ever since it premiered back in 2018. However, the police chief in Bozeman, Montana would prefer if it had never aired in the first place.
Bozeman Police Chief Sounds Off
Starring Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, and Cole Hauser, Yellowstone tells the story of a Montana family protecting their ranch near Yellowstone National Park. Fans have fallen in love with both the show and the scenery. This has inspired many of them to move to the area themselves.
For the Bozeman Police Chief Jim Velkamp, however, this has caused quite a few headaches. In a new interview, Velkamp is blaming Yellowstone for the spike in crime that has come along with the newcomers to his city.
“I think overall for us specifically with the city of Bozeman it’s just the growth and the challenges related to growth … that is our biggest challenge,” Velkamp told Daily Mail.
Velkamp went on to directly blame Yellowstone for the increase in crime in Bozeman. This has been particularly difficult, since Velkamp’s department already had a full plate even before Yellowstone.
“Our city has grown so fast,” he explained. “Bozeman wasn’t literally on the map, now it’s a well-known place.”
Velkamp added that when he was a child growing up in Bozeman, it was left off maps because of just how small it was. He recalls not even being able to find Bozeman in the world atlas in his youth.
Those days, however, have long gone. In the last decade, the population in Bozeman has grown by 50 percent. Locals have even taken to putting bumper stickers on their cars that read, “Montana Is Full.”
Related: Kevin Costner Reveals His Future Plans For ‘Yellowstone’
People Move To Bozeman After Watching ‘Yellowstone
While Velkamp can’t blame all of this on Yellowstone, he feels that the show is a big part of it.
“I can’t blame one single factor, I certainly can’t attribute it all to the show Yellowstone, but we hear it routinely,” he stated. “People say, ‘Oh Bozeman, I’ve watched Yellowstone.”
“We even hear it from candidates for the police department,” he continued. “They looked up Bozeman after watching the show Yellowstone and thought ‘Wow that’s a pretty cool place’ … and so they inquire about working here.”
That being said, Velkamp doesn’t want locals to worry too much about the uptick in crime. He made it clear that crime has not boomed disproportionately to the town’s growth.
“The fact that our population is going up so fast means the numbers of crimes are going up fast,” he explained. “We simply need more capacity and bandwidth to keep up with those numbers of crimes even if the ratio, our crime rate, is staying the same and only going up slowly.”
“So with the growth comes tons of issues related to people’s expectations of Bozeman,” Velkamp concluded.
Yellowstone May Not Be Ending
Yellowstone was set to end after the second half of season five. The final batch of episodes were scheduled to begin airing on November 10. This undoubtedly came as music to the ears of Velkamp. He likely thought that Bozeman would finally get a reprieve with Yellowstone gone.
Unfortunately for him, however, new reports have come in that indicate that negotiations are underway for a surprise sixth season of Yellowstone. Though Costner is done with the show, stars Reilly and Hauser are allegedly in talks to star in yet another season.
Yellowstone fans may be rejoicing at this news, but it seems to be Velkamp’s worst nightmare. In the end, he may sadly need to brace himself for many more Bozeman newcomers in the months and years to come!
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