Ronan remains without police chief
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RONAN — Ronan will be without a police chief for a while longer, as the city’s government awaits the May 15 expiration date of want ads recently posted for a regular police officer.
The council’s decision last week to wait to hire a new chief frustrated candidate Dennis Lewis, who has worked as a high-level law enforcement officer for some of the nation’s top government organizations, but has been passed over twice in favor of applicants whom he believes weren’t as qualified.
City Councilmember Cal Hardy said it made sense for the town to see what other applications come in before making a decision.
“Not to consider anybody else is kind of foolish,” Hardy said. “ ... If they went through the effort to apply, I think we should at least look at it.”
The council met with Lewis on Friday, May 2 to discuss ideas on the direction of the department. One recurring concern for the council was whether or not Lewis was certified by the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council. Montana POST Council stripped longtime Police Chief Dan Wadsworth of his law enforcement certifications in July 2013, after he allegedly falsified his son’s application to the state law academy.
In the following months, the Ronan Police Department saw the suspension of its reserve force and a major personnel overhaul. Most officers had to be sent to the state’s law enforcement academy to receive proper certification. Since October, two police chiefs were hired; Valent Maxwell left 10 weeks later following a tense council meeting, and John Mitchell was demoted without explanation on April 21. Mayor Kim Aipperspach is technically now the city’s police chief.
In the May 2 meeting Lewis told the council that he was retired, and didn’t need a large salary to do the chief’s job. By law, Lewis is permitted to work as chief for up to a year before he would have to seek POST Council certification. During that time Lewis said he planned to clean up the department’s evidence lockers that are in bad shape, and help get the current officers certified in more than the bare bones education requirements they have at present.
Lewis said it is unlikely that he’ll be able to pass the physical part of the law enforcement academy exam to become a full-time officer certified via the basic instruction program. The 72-year-old doesn’t think he can run a mile as required by the course.
Lewis said he checked with POST Executive Director Perry Johnson to see what options were available for officers with past vast experience in the law enforcement field. Lewis said he was told by Johnson that a refresher course would be available to POST certify Lewis.
In an interview last week, Johnson said he couldn’t recall a specific conversation with Lewis, but that there are refresher courses experienced law officers can take to circumvent POST basic training. POST approved a similar plan for certifying Maxwell, prior to the former chief’s departure.
After Lewis met with the council on May 2 to discuss his ideas, he was under the impression that a decision on his possible employment would be made at the May 5 meeting. When it became clear the town was going to make him wait until the application process closed, Lewis left in a bit of a huff.
The next day, Lewis explained in an interview why he was upset.
“It’s the third time they’ve done this to me,” Lewis said.
Lewis was interviewed as a finalist for the police chief job prior to Maxwell’s hiring.
Instead of a single page resume, it took a dossier of dozens of pages of paperwork to sum up Lewis’s law enforcement experiences.
In the past 45 years he’s worked for several police departments, and as a Department of Defense physical security specialist and manager.
Lewis had a 100 percent conviction rate for all cases he sent to the United States Attorney’s office. He’s received a Congressional Meritorious Service Award and a letter commending him for his role in the war on drugs from President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan.
He saved the United States Marine Corps more than $27 million, according to a letter praising Lewis, written by U.S. Marine Corps Colonel J.D. Nichols.
The list of Lewis’s law certifications is more extensive than what is required of POST basic training. He’s been trained in many specialized areas indlucing hate crimes, white collar crime, sex crimes, and terrorism.
Lewis has also provided security for high profile clients including the Jackson 5 and members of the Kennedy family.
So it came as a bit of a surprise to Lewis when the town kept him waiting in the wings, not once, but twice, and gave the police job to people with far less experience. He said he worried that the town might be discriminating against him based on age.
Lewis said he understands the city council has been twice bitten on hiring a chief and is shy of making another mistake, but doesn’t think waiting for the close of the current want ads applications will make a difference.
“Those are for regular officers, not a chief,” Lewis said.
City Councilmember Chris Adler said the city is taking its time to avoid future mistakes.
“I think I can speak for all the council,” Adler said. “We’re treading lightly this time around.”
