Committee deems allegations against former KPD officer, commission candidate worth pursuing

A committee attached to the state agency charged with overseeing public safety officer certification ruled Tuesday that the allegations against former Kalispell Police officer and county commission candidate Jason Parce merited further action.

Members of the Montana Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council’s case status committee agreed to issue a letter to Parce after receiving an abbreviated run-down of the accusations against him. He is alleged to have issued discriminatory tickets to out-of-state vehicles and leaked confidential information to the media.

Parce has made his lengthy career in law enforcement — most recently as Kalispell Police Department’s K-9 unit — a cornerstone of his campaign for the Flathead County Board of Commissioners. He is running against incumbent Pam Holmquist and fellow challengers Jack Fallon and Brian Friess in the June 7 Republican primary.

Officials in attendance at the May 24 meeting, which was open to the public, said the Kalispell Police Department had submitted a large amount of information regarding the allegations, but stopped short of going into detail. They said that Parce’s tenure with the local agency ended in March.

One potentially complicating issue was whether Parce would file a grievance regarding his termination from the Kalispell Police Department, said Katrina Bolger, an investigator with the council.

Members of the case status committee agreed to potentially put their work on hold pending the outcome of any grievance process.

REACHED BY phone afterward, Parce said he was not on the conference call, but talked with several people who listened in during the conversation. While expressing skepticism about the allegations, Parce emphasized that they stemmed from perceived policy infractions.

“The reason I’ve been so transparent about it is because there are no criminal allegations,” he said.

As far as favoring out of state motorists in issuing tickets, Parce said that even if true there was no intent. He claims that he and other officers had responded to a surge in visitation in recent years as well as community complaints.

“The No. 1 complaint the police department gets and has gotten over the past few years has been traffic related issues,” he said. “Over the last couple of years there have been a lot of different people in the community.”

Parce said his work in investigating narcotics as part of the K-9 unit may have played a role. Flathead County is often a destination for drugs, he said, and those drugs come from somewhere else, frequently across state lines by vehicle.

As for the allegation of leaking to the media, Parce said he has not been provided with any specifics, but maintains he has kept open lines of communication with journalists throughout his career. His involvement in community events and nonprofit programs meant coming into regular contact with the press, he said.

He considered it part of his effort to stay involved with the community.

“I never thought that would lead me to a situation where it would be turned around and brought on me as a negative,” Parce said.

He also confirmed that he had pushed back against his termination from the department. Parce said he provided a lengthy response to the city through his union, which is handling the process.

THE MONTANA Public Safety Officer Standards and Training Council, better known by the acronym POST, is notified anytime a peace officer in the state is terminated and reviews materials submitted by the individual’s former agency. The case status committee weighs in on the allegations and has the option of closing the matter, seeking more information or issuing the officer a letter.

Officials with POST have described the process as civil in nature.

In Parce’s case, the committee opted to issue a letter when circumstances allow, meaning he eventually will receive a document outlining the allegations and requesting the release of personnel information. He will then have 35 days to respond, though he has the option to ask for more time. If he fails to reply, POST will revoke his certificates.

Were Parce to respond, POST staff would launch an investigation. Those findings would go back before the case status committee, which would decide whether to close the file, investigate further or offer the officer a stipulated sanction. If the latter option is taken, the individual has another 35 days to consider the committee’s offer. Along with simply accepting or rejecting the offer, they could potentially issue a counteroffer.

Counteroffers are weighed by the committee. Were the original offer rejected, the committee would pass along its recommended sanction in a third letter to the officer, giving them 30 days to request a hearing.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.