Lawsuit against police department will proceed as class action

By MEGAN STRICKLAND

for the Leader

A lawsuit against the Ronan Police Department is moving forward as a class action suit after Lake County District Judge James Manley ruled earlier this month that hundreds of people might have been impacted if a jury determines that officers within the department where not properly certified.

“The size of the proposed class is so numerous that joining all parties is impracticable,” Manley wrote in his order for class certification. “The foreseeable class includes all person whose person or property were subjected to detention, search, or seizure by ineligible or unqualified individuals acting as City of Ronan police officers, reserve officers, and/or peace officers. This could be hundreds of people. The City of Ronan has a record of all the arrests and citations made by the officers in question, but the records likely contain outdated information. The records likely don’t include every traffic stop or citizen stopped on the street. This places a large burden on the plaintiff to track down every possible individual and join them as a party.”

Anthony Chaney, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was arrested on July 14, 2013 by off-duty and reserve Ronan police officers on July 14, 2013, after he restrained his brother, Donald Chaney, who was suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder episode. Anthony Chaney was never charged with a crime for the incident, though Donald Chaney was booked into Flathead Tribal Jail. Chaney claims that the officer who arrested him, Trevor Wadsworth, was not properly certified. Wadsworth’s father, Dan Wadsworth, was the longtime police chief. He was stripped of his law enforcement certifications later in July 2013 after state officials found that he had falsified Trevor’s application to the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. Dan Wadsworth denied falsifying the application, even after his certifications were stripped.

Chaney first filed a lawsuit in federal court in July 2014, but a judge found late last year that issues involving certification of officers are a matter of state law and should be hashed out in state court.

The Tribal Defenders Office for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is representing Chaney.

In a press release sent out last week, the office said it “is asking that anyone who believes they might have been detained by a ineligible or unqualified Ronan Police officer contact the tribal judicial staff.”

According to the press release, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have entered into an agreement with the state and local governments that allows Ronan police officers to police tribal members in misdemeanor situations, but only if those police officers are certified.

The Ronan Police Department, Ronan Mayor Kim Aipperspach, and Dan Wadsworth have all denied the allegation in responses to the lawsuit. None of the officers named in the lawsuit still work for the Ronan Police Department.

As the case moves forward, people who believe they fall within the affected class of defendants can contact the Tribal Defenders Office, Ann Sherwood or Justin Kalmbach, at 406-675-2700 ext. 1125.