Employees are taught to look for signs such as people who pay only in cash, give false vehicle information or don’t let housekeeping into their rooms for long periods of time.
The task force recently began implementing a program in which hotel and motel employees are trained to look for evidence of illegal drug activity coming from rooms, and to know who to call if they see something suspicious.
The recent arrests of three people suspected of running a prostitution operation in a room at the TownHouse Inn was a result of a tip made by an employee of the hotel to the Central Montana Drug Task Force.
The employee was trained by Sgt. Chris Hickman of the Great Falls Police Department, a member of the multi-agency task force, to recognize signs of suspicious behavior. While it was initially suspected that the three individuals were running a drug operation, Hickman said he was glad that officers were able to shut down the alleged prostitution as a result cooperation from hotel staff.
 According to Hickman, police are pursuing three active cases because of tips from cooperative lodging employees in Great Falls, but an unfortunate by-product of that cooperation can sometimes be a sullied reputation for the business if a tip leads to a publicized arrest.
