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Police chief interviews begin amid crime wave

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RONAN — The Ronan City Council began the interview process for police chief last week, as citizens complained about increased crime in the area amid a shortage of officers.

“Saturday, my trucks got broken into,” Ronan resident Jeremy Bluemel told council members Aug. 18. “We live right by Les Schwab. They both got broke into. Three, four days earlier the neighbor’s house got broke into while she was there. They broke into her vehicles, they broke into a couple other neighbors’ vehicles, and every time we go to the police department with something, whatever it is, (they say) ‘We don’t have manpower to step up patrols.’” 

Police commissioners and council members also reported a rash of recent thefts. In most of the incidences the criminals overlooked expensive items that could have been pawned. Fishing gear and guns were left untouched, as the burglars took cash, cigarettes, and a phone charger. 

“I don’t want to harp on it, but can we get something done?” Bluemel asked. 

He said his family lives paycheck to paycheck, but he would be willing to fork out more in taxes if it meant his three children ages 10, 12, and 14 would be better protected. 

“They shouldn’t have to use the training I’ve given them,” Bluemel said. “My oldest daughter will shoot somebody if they try to come in that house ... I don’t want it to come to that.” 

Fellow Ronan resident Tracy Morigeau Frank said she suspected criminals were “scoping out” her home last week, as they came to the door and asked her son about a non-existent prescheduled meeting with a lawn worker.

“It is getting quite concerning,” Morigeau Frank said. 

But City Clerk Kaylene Melton disagreed with the concerned citizens, and said the crimes aren’t anything new. 

“I lived in Ronan 30 years ago, and I had someone walk into my house at 10 o’clock at night,” Melton said. “So it’s nothing new.” 

In the past five years the city has consistently ranked in the top five cities in Montana with the highest rate of violent crime per capita, according to Montana Board of Crime Control statistics.

In recent weeks the city council has grappled with a solution to a manpower shortage. The police force, which has traditionally operated with four or five regular officers, has only been staffed with two regular officers for much of the month of August, as one officer completed yearly training in the armed forces reserves. Mayor and Acting Police Chief Kim Aipperspach has repeatedly refused requests from the public and other city employees to address why Officer John Mitchell has not returned to duty after an extensive leave of absence because of health problems. Mitchell served as the town’s police chief for approximately two months and was demoted from the position for unspecified reasons on April 21. He was the town’s third police officer to fall from power in a 10-month time period. 

In previous council meetings staff has said Mitchell is cleared for light duty and wants to return to work, but Aipperspach argued that “the work is not available at this time,” in response to questions about why Mitchell has not returned to the office.

 Other details are protected by privacy laws, Aipperspach said. 

As crime has ramped up and officer availability has dwindled, the two officers on-duty said they’ve been working extra hours to make up the difference. 

City Councilmember Roger Romero praised the two officers for working diligently, and said they did an excellent job in quickly resolving a burglary investigation for a relative. 

The continued long hours for the two on-duty policemen have come without guarantee of overtime pay, which the officers requested in an Aug. 4 council meeting. The council’s finance committee has not issued guidance on whether or not the officers will be reimbursed for their time. 

Aipperspach shifted some of the blame for increased crime and limited law enforcement presence on the county sheriff’s department, and said that city taxpayers “pay county taxes, too” and should receive some law enforcement coverage from the county sheriff’s department. 

In an interview after the meeting, Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin said the sheriff’s department has responded to emergency calls in Ronan during the police department’s recent struggles and that the department will continue to respond in extreme emergencies. 

The sheriff’s department has also helped work major felony events that require expertise beyond what the Ronan Police Department is capable of handling, Yonkin said. 

Ultimately, the City of Ronan is solely responsible for its police force, Yonkin said. 

“The fact that the city hasn’t maintained the police department isn’t the responsibility of the county,” Yonkin said. 

The city doesn’t expect the county to provide other services, such as snow plowing, and law enforcement protection is no different, Yonkin said. 

He pointed out that Ronan voted earlier this year to not outsource its police department to the sheriff’s department. 

Mayor Aipperpsach told concerned community members that the city will likely never be able to afford all the police officers its citizens would like to have, but he thinks hiring a police chief is a step in the right direction. “We’re short manpower right now, but we are working on it,” Aipperspach said.

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