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Billings law to regulate massage businesses, fight human trafficking passes first reading
Billings City Council hears lengthy debate over massage-therapy ordinance
By: Mitch Lagge
and last updated 2021-04-13 18:10:09-04
BILLINGS â An ordinance to regulate massage businesses in Billings with the goal to cut down on human trafficking passed in a 8-3 vote at a City Council meeting Monday night.
Council discussion and public comment lasted hours at the hybrid meeting in the Billings Public Library and over video call. The ordinance still needs a second reading at a future Council meeting before it becomes law.
The ordinance would require all massage business owners to obtain a specific business license from the city at a cost of $55 per year. Massage business owners would also need to submit a background check and fingerprints to the city to obtain the business license.
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From the report, it was another busy year for Billings police.
In all, officers responded to more than 96,000 calls for service in 2020. Which is a 10 year high for the department.Â
The report shows officers managed to stay on task in spite of 45 confirmed COVID-19 cases within the department and 53 high risk work related exposures.
However, it was also one of the deadliest years in recent memory.
In all, officers responded to 22 homicide incidents. Sixteen of those incidents were classified as criminal, two were determined to be justifiable and four were ruled as negligent.
BPD officers responded to 781 calls of aggravated assault. That is 268 more than in 2019 which, at the time, was a 10 year high.