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Police Chief needs funding for improvements

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RONAN – Ronan Police Chief Ken Weaver has focused on improving the department for about two years now, but he needs funding to continue to accomplish his goals.

He has a few things on his to-do list including hiring another full-time officer, establishing a salary ladder to retain skilled employees, purchasing public safety equipment and technology, and setting aside revenue for a capital improvement fund.

The chief applied for a grant to help secure the funds for his improvement projects, but the grant, if he gets it, is a matching fund. He hopes the public votes to pass a Public Safety Mill Levy during the Nov. 8 election to secure the funds to match the grant.

A mill levy is the tax rate that is applied to assessed property values. Fifty-five mills would be levied if it passes. In Ronan, a mill is set at one-tenth of a cent, so a home with a market value of $50,000 would add up to $37.12 a year, which calculates to 10 cents a day.

The Ronan City Council has said that they support Chief Weaver’s efforts to secure funding for the department, including the mill levy.

The department currently has funding for one chief and four officers, which isn’t enough to provide 24-hour police coverage for the entire year.

“I consider us a part-time department,” he said. “It’s my firm belief that Ronan deserves to have a full-time police department and reduce dependency on the sheriff’s department and tribal (police).”

Chief Weaver said that he needs an additional officer to help fill a rotating employee schedule to better juggle training programs, earned vacation time, and military service obligations.

Several of the officers need to leave for weeks at a time to fill those military service obligations.Officer Jason Acheson is currently serving in Romania, and Officer TJ Sheridan will soon be gone for three weeks with a military reserve program.

The additional officer would also make it possible to send officers to advanced training programs, which is a top priority for the chief.

Retaining skilled officers is another issue. The funding project would allow the department to create a competitive pay scale so that officers don’t move to other departments once they’ve gained experience.

“We don’t want to be the highest paid (officers),” he said. “We just want to be competitive to attract and keep qualified candidates.”

Chief Weaver also wants to put aside funding for public safety equipment. He said it costs $1,500 for the police academy and $360 for reserve training. It also costs about $7,000 to provide one officer with needed equipment including a uniform, handgun, belt equipment, taser, radio, bulletproof vest, fingerprint kit and DUI investigation tools.

“I think we need to give officers the proper tools to do the job,” he said, adding that he doesn’t expect officers to pay for the tools themselves.

Patrol cars are also on the list of needed improvements. The department gets used vehicles with 100,000 miles already on the odometer. “I want to set money aside in the capital improvements fund to get a new car,” he said.

The chief has a never-give-up motto, so if the mill levy doesn’t pass, he intends to find out why people didn’t support it and make adjustments before trying again.

The department handbook says that officers can’t be involved in campaigning while on duty, so Chief Weaver said he would be happy to talk to anyone about the issue when he is off duty. He also has informative pamphlets available. Messages can be left at 406-676-0223 or at rpdchief@ronan.net.

In other department news, Chief Weaver wants people to know that the Ronan Police Department is enforcing a new city ordinance that makes it illegal to park along parade routes before and during established community parades, which are usually along Main Street, in an effort to make children more visible during the parade because they often dart out into the road to collect candy and get a better view.

The parade ordinance was in effect during the Pioneer Days parade with signs posted several hours in advance. Chief Weaver said that people adjusted well to the change and only one out-of-state vehicle was towed.

Ronan City Council is also gearing up to vote on whether specific penalties should be added to a current parking ordinance that says it is illegal to park on Main Street between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. to allow for street cleaning and snow removal.

The ordinance has been in effect for several years but a specific penalty is being added that includes a written warning for the first offense, a $20 fine the second time, $40 for the third offense, and a $60 fine for the fourth offense.

And finally, the council is working on adopting an ordinance that makes the language concerning the way people pull into a parking space easier to understand. It states that “it shall be unlawful for any vehicle to make a left turn to park on the opposite side of the street” as a safety precaution for pedestrians. Upon conviction, violating the parking ordinance will cost $50 for the first offense, $75 for the second, and $100 for the third and subsequent offenses. Chief Weaver said that signs will be put up sometime in September if the council votes to approve the penalty.

Chief Weaver said that people should attend the city council meetings or contact him if they would like to make comments about the ordinances.

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