Missoula mayor appoints Capt. Colyer as interim police chief

(Missoula Current) The city on Friday appointed a familiar name to serve as the interim chief of the Missoula Police Department.

Mayor Jordan Hess named Capt. Mike Colyer to the post to fill in for retiring Chief Jaeson White, who departs at the end of the month after three years in Missoula.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Hess said Colyer will lead the department while the city begins its recruitment for a new chief.

“I’m grateful for Chief White’s service, and I’m certain that Mike will provide the steady leadership that we all need right now,” Hess said.

Colyer is a Missoula native who earned a degree in law enforcement from North Idaho College. He worked as a police officer for the Coeur d’Alene department before returning to Missoula to begin his career with MPD in 1996.

As a patrol officer, Colyer was a motorcycle officer in the traffic unit and a field training officer before being promoted to sergeant in 2001. As a sergeant, he supervised uniformed patrol teams, the traffic unit and the Street Crimes Unit.

According to the city, Colyer was promoted to lieutenant in 2008 and served in the Office of Professional Standards, where he was responsible for citizen complaint investigation, internal investigations, recruiting and new officer hiring.

In 2011, he graduated from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Later that year, he was also promoted to captain and assigned to the Detective Division.

“A significant accomplishment in that position was his role in guiding the Missoula Police Department’s work with the United States Department of Justice to reform the department’s response to sexual assault,” the city said in its announcement. “He has held many collateral duties along the way, such as being a SWAT Operator, SWAT Team Leader and the Tactical Operations Commander.”

Colyer was one of the first drug recognition experts and instructors in Montana.