by John Dowd
After several big changes over the last year, the Stevensville Police Department might finally be back on track and in full force. Over the last month, the department welcomed two new officers to the town, Ken Franklin and Christopher Pierce .
Franklin was sworn in on July 15 and came from out of state to move closer to family in Corvallis. Though he is still waiting on a spot in the Montana Law Enforcement Academy, he is out on the streets with guidance from the police chief and he comes with some experience. Franklin worked as a correctional officer for a sheriff’s office in California. He believes many of his skills from being a corrections officer will carry over, especially things like conflict mitigation and de-escalation.
So far, Franklin said he has really enjoyed meeting the people of the community, hearing about the area and “learning about people and their stories. It’s all relatively new to me as well.”
The other officer, Pierce, was sworn in on June 30. Pierce lives in Missoula and used to work for the Missoula courthouse. He hopes his skills from a courtroom setting will transfer well into his new position. As he spoke on his experience, he stated that he often dealt with people potentially having some of the worst days of their lives, and he became experienced in working with those people.
“They are not always getting good news from the court,” said Pierce. He believes in treating everyone the same, whether they have committed a crime or not, and said he gives people the dignity and respect they deserve, while also working to enforce the law for others who have been wronged or potentially put in danger.
Pierce wanted to pursue a career in law enforcement and jumped at the chance to work in Ravalli County, as he plans to move here. Pierce’s favorite part of the job is getting out and talking to the community. He will be taking on the student resource officer (SRO) position for the Stevensville School District as soon as he returns from the academy and has had another month of training in the field.
He is excited for the SRO position and to further improve community relations. He spoke highly of how they have stickers and coloring books to hand out.
“We’re very excited to serve the community and protect them,” said Pierce. Pierce will be attending the academy starting August 18.
Both officers are on board with the direction Stevensville Police Chief John Boe is taking the department.
“We want to help make a better standing,” said Pierce about the department. Franklin also spoke on the rebuilding of the department, saying, “It just sounds like something fun to be a part of.”
According to Boe, “I’m excited about the future.” He is working to better the relationship between his department and the community, hoping they can become “more approachable and engaging.”
For him, that means a lot of things, including forming more of a presence on the streets and at community events. After hiring more help, he hopes that vision will come further into focus. “I’ve got two really great guys,” said Boe. He also wanted to recognize the efforts of Joe Marble, saying that he has been “instrumental” in rebuilding the department. “I can’t thank him for all of his work and all of his knowledge,” said Boe. “I’m extremely grateful.”
Boe added that he and Marble held an extensive interview process to find the right officers for their department and for the community. “We were looking for the right fit,” said Boe. Boe stated that they work for the town of Stevensville and want to involve community members in their process as much as possible. They even included members in the hiring and interview process of the two new officers.
The other part of this vision is for the Stevensville Police Department to become more active in community events again. They plan to bring back the Chili Cook-off that has been so popular, and plan to host it again in October. Boe is interested in anything that “brings the community together.” He hopes the cook-off will be a good way for the community to meet their new officers and to see where the department is going. He also explained that this time, instead of benefiting the department, he would like to see the money they raise go back into the community. “I’d much rather see the town benefit as a whole than just the department,” said Boe. “We want to let them know that we are out there to support them.”
When speaking about the interview process and his vision for the department, Boe said, “I’ve spent a lifetime in this profession trying to change people’s perspective of law enforcement.” He thinks the best way to do that is with action.
Finally, Boe wanted to extend a notice to the community, specifically to speeders on the downtown stretch of Eastside Highway. They plan to be making a concerted effort going forward. Over the last month they have been ramping up the severity of ticketing. Boe explained that he did not want to change things overnight, and wanted to ease the community into it. He believes in the past the department has been too relaxed on speeding. His department is going to be much harsher on speeders because the route is so utilized by the community. Boe said there are children walking there, people going to stores and vehicles backing out from parking spaces. He said cracking down on speeding there is imperative to keep the community safe. The department has been writing a lot of warnings up until this point, but plans to increase severity to let people know speeding will not be tolerated.