Ronan Police Department under investigation
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RONAN – The Ronan Police Department is under investigation by Montana’s Public Safety Officer Standards and Training (POST) Council following a recent incident in which it was falsely reported that a Montana Law Enforcement Academy student was employed by Ronan Police Department.
Montana’s POST Council is the organization that oversees Montana’s law enforcement agencies. The council is responsible for establishing basic and advanced qualification and training standards for employment of Montana's public safety officers.
The MLEA incident prompted further investigation into Lake County Undersheriff Karey Reynolds’ work history with Ronan’s police department.
In a letter sent to Lake County Sheriff Jay Doyle dated May 19, 2011 from Wayne Ternes, executive director of Montana POST, “…due to the recent incident at MLEA where a student was ‘sponsored’ by Ronan Police Department to attend MLEA and documents were falsified by Chief Wadsworth (mainly stating that the student was hired by Ronan when he was not), I decided that further investigation into Mr. Reynolds employment was necessary.”
The letter further states, “…it has been found that the last year of verifiable work for the Ronan Police Department by Mr. Karey Reynolds was 2000 and not what has been stated by Chief Wadsworth.”
The gap in law enforcement work history, which according to Montana law can be no longer than 36 months to maintain peace officer status, means Reynolds needs to be re-certified.
Ternes notes in the letter that Reynolds is eligible to be undersheriff but that he’s required to attend “Law Enforcement Basic” within one year’s time.
According to Ternes, the investigation of Ronan’s Police Department is far from over, and is at a standstill until the POST can review documents with Ronan’s city attorney, James Raymond.
“The problem is that we currently can’t rely on paperwork received from Ronan concerning work history,” Ternes said. “We will not accept anything from Ronan Police until we clear it all up.”
Attempts to reach Chief Wadsworth were unsuccessful by press time.
