New officers, patrol cars planned for Ronan Police Department
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RONAN — Residents can expect to encounter new faces and cars patrolling Ronan streets in coming months. On March 24, the city council approved hiring two new officers and purchasing two police cars. It also considered revamping hiring policies for officers.
The council accepted the resignation of Officer Mark Fiorentino at the meeting, and decided to hire one full-time and one part-time police officer. Fiorentino’s departure left the department with three officers, including Chief John Mitchell. Former military police officer James Garcia graduated from the Montana Law Enforcement Academy on Friday and was expected to begin work this week, to bring the city’s force up to four people.
Garcia will participate in a three to four week training process.
“For the first few days he just watches,” Mitchell said. “Then he’s going to start using the radio a little bit more and doing the driving.”
Garcia will be under the watchful eyes of Mitchell and Officer Pat Noble during training. The department doesn’t have a certified field training officer to supervise new hires. Mayor Kim Aipperspach asked if some training might be available from the certified training officers from tribal or county law enforcement agencies, but Mitchell and Noble argued that Garcia needs to learn the specifics of crime in Ronan and the department’s individual policies and procedures. State law does not require the department to have a field training officer, and Mitchell said he was confident Garcia’s training would be adequate.
“We’re going to do pretty good for what we’ve got,” Mitchell said. He added that other small, cash-strapped police departments like Thompson Falls often don’t have a certified training officer.
Mitchell will have to sign off on paperwork certifying Garcia’s familiarity with the town and ability to complete basic tasks.
“My main agenda is to make sure he will be safe on calls,” Noble said. “I don’t expect him to be fingerprinting and pulling DNA off walls and stuff.”
As the city looks to fill two additional positions, Mitchell asked the council to consider instating a new hiring process. In its most recent round of hiring, the city council accepted applications, submitted the applicants to the Montana Police Commission for review and elimination, and chose the best of the remaining candidates for an interview. The city council then interviewed and selected a finalist for hire.
Mitchell would like to see a slightly different process that resembles that of other towns in Montana. Those towns form an interview committee comprised of people with law enforcement backgrounds to interview the candidate. Mitchell said an ideal committee would contain a mix of tribal, county, state, and local officials. City council members would still have the final say in who was hired.
Aipperspach was wary of utilizing a hiring board because previous ones hired people on the fly, without council approval, and landed the city in hot water with the Montana Public Safety Officer and Training Council. The removal of the unqualified officers from the police force and suspension of the city’s reserve officer program in 2013 resulted in the high number of vacancies the city has dealt with in the past year.
“I don’t mind revamping the process, but you have to remember the last hiring board got us into this situation because they used to bring people in through the door and say ‘Yeah, we hired him last weekend because we were busy on Friday,’” Aipperspach said. “They got us into this situation.”
Mitchell said if the hiring board operates correctly, it will help and not hinder the city.
“These people know law enforcement,” Mitchell said. “They know what to look for … It’s just a better process. It takes a little longer. Sometimes it takes a month or two to do it, but that’s better than jumping into something where we’re going to have regrets.”
City Clerk Kaylene Melton said she contacted the state’s city and town insurance pool, Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, for guidance on hiring practices.
“We have been going about it in a somewhat backwards manner,” Melton said.
The council didn’t take action on hiring procedures. This is the second time in the past year the council has been presented with the idea.
In September 2013 Noble suggested a hiring committee when the city council began searching for a replacement for former Police Chief Dan Wadsworth, who had his law enforcement certifications stripped and was suspended earlier that year for allegedly falsifying his son’s application to the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. The council stuck to a process that only included city council members in the hiring process.
Valent Maxwell of Alaska was hired for the position, and lasted 10 weeks on the job before competence-related concerns led to his resignation. Mitchell was hired as chief Jan. 21.
New officers will be met with a more updated fleet. Old vehicles currently in use have multiple issues including wiring problems that are difficult to repair, Mitchell said. Last week the council approved the purchase of a Dodge Charger and Tahoe fully equipped for police work. The Idaho vehicles will cost approximately $10,000.
