Lack of training after merger of Missouri’s Highway and Water Patrol

It has been nearly four years since the merger of Highway Patrol and Water Patrol.

For the first time since Governor Jay Nixon signed House Bill 1868, representatives have taken an in-depth look at if the merger worked.

While the hearings were called just months after Brandon Ellingson’s drowning, no one in Highway Patrol or those on the committee are saying the hearings are a direct result of Ellingson’s death.

This week Attorney General Eric Holder told U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley he would personally review Ellingson’s case.

ABC 17 News’ investigation into Ellingson’s death continued Monday by looking into whether road troopers working on the water are trained adequately.

That training changed in 2011 with the merger of Highway Patrol and Water Patrol.

ABC 17’s Heather Hourigan discovered after going to the hearings, talking to retired patrolmen, and pouring over training documents, that the transparency of Highway Patrol’s marine operations training is anything but clear.

“I think the merger to this point has been inefficient. It has put the public safety at risk and it has not saved any money. It has not done what it was touted to do,” said Representative Rocky Miller.

Miller has been at all five merger hearings around the state.

While he told ABC 17 News he is disappointed with things he learned over the last few months, people should feel safer on Missouri’s waterways.

“You are saying people are safer now, but were they safe before May 31?” said Hourigan.

“I think they were lacking in training, therefore, the public safety was at risk during that time,” said Miller.

That time being when Trooper Anthony Piercy pulled over Ellingson for drinking while boating.

In Hourigan’s last special report she showed how there were several protocols Piercy did not follow leading up to Ellingson going overboard; such as putting Ellingson in the wrong type of life vest, driving the boat an an excessive speed, and allegedly not knowing how to inflate his own vest.

“Why is someone on the water that doesn’t know what life vest to put on? That is why we are doing this,” said Representative Diane Franklin.

Franklin is the head of the bipartisan committee looking into the success of the merger.

She told ABC 17 News many people came to her concerned after hearing about the coroner’s inquest in September.

It was during the inquest Piercy blamed his wrong decisions on his lack of training.

During the inquest Piercy’s lawyer asked him, “As part of that hypothetical exercise, were you taught and critiqued on how to handcuff a suspect and secure them in a life vest?”

Piercy responded, “No. We were not.”

He also said “no” when his lawyer asked if he was ever trained where to put a suspect on the boat after an arrest.

However, if Piercy would have been required to complete the Troop F Marine Operations training guide he would have learned such things.

Matt Walz, a current Highway Patrol supervisor and previous water patrolman, wrote the marine training guide after the merger for road officers wanting to work on the water.

Representative Don Phillips asked Walz at the third hearing if his guide was in fact being followed.

“To your knowledge are we doing that right now?” asked Phillips.

“Not that I am aware of, no.” said Walz.

So far, ABC 17 News learned one road officer has completed the training guide.

“If you are not trained to do a job and you are going out to do it, there is just no defense when things don’t go well,” said Franklin.

Road troopers working part time on the water are referred to as supplemental officers.

Piercy was a supplemental officer.

Before May 31 there was no set training requirements for those troopers according to Sgt. Randy Henry who testified at two of the hearings.

“At this time there is no set protocol, it was just an email about what these officers were expected to be able to perform,” said Henry to the committee.

Henry is referring to an email sent from Lt. Darewin Clardy to zone sergeants stating, “Prior to turning them loose solo, let’s have either Randy or Chris send me an IOC simply stating they have demonstrated a level of competence in Donzi navigation.”

Donzi, being the type of boat Highway Patrol uses.

The email continued, “Quite frankly, this limited group of officers gives me no concern on judgement, interaction, enforcement ect., but navigational where-with-all on a lake that is something we need to have some oversight of.”

“They had that kind of initiative going forward to send the part time or supplementals out and that’s what happened at the Lake of the Ozarks, that’s why Clardy could send out officer Piercy,” said Franklin.

Because of that email, Piercy’s only test he had to pass to be on the water was a five question quiz about geography, nothing about life vests or speed.

“Why do you think there was this blatant disregard for marine operations training for some of these road troopers?” asked Hourigan to Miller.

“I think that they did not understand how different being on the water was, and then when they went to train on the water actually enforce on the water they started discovering how different it was, I just dont think they reacted quickly enough,”said Miller.

Former water patrolmen were horrified to hear this could happen.

“It’s criminal to think we are putting people in boats expecting them to do a job in a marine environment when, and I’m not saying we do this, but if we don’t provide them with the most swimming training they can get,” said Lt. Dave Wall, a previous water patrolman, now lieutenant in Highway Patrol.

ABC 17 News has requested all of Piercy’s training records and is still waiting to receive his swimming test results, something Highway Patrol has not been able to produce yet.

So did he even pass one?

“There was great concern because some of these part-timers didn’t take the final swim test at the academy for whatever reason they were hurt or something. They graduated from the four week boat class without taking the test, much less passing it,” said Henry.

Documents have not just been a struggle for ABC 17 News to get.

Representative Franklin felt Highway Patrol was not fully transparent throughout the hearings.

“I think that it bothered them that we were so persistent.” said Franklin.

“But did you feel like they really did give you all the answers you were looking for?” asked Hourigan.

“No. I learned that we had to ask the right question,” said Franklin.

Franklin was also not able to get a clear answer about all troopers passing a swimming test from the training director Capt. Vince Rice.

Franklin: “They’ve all been tested? They passed a test on that?”

Rice: “I can not answer that 100% because I don’t know if all of them…”

Franklin: “How could they be on the water if they haven’t completed your test? Am I asking a question that can’t be answered right now?”

She was, and some told ABC 17 News that was due to pending litigation in the Ellingson case while others in Highway Patrol said their commanders told them what to say during the hearings.

“I honestly believe it was not the troopers but coming from further up the command,” said Miller.

“Do you think something will happen there?” said Hourigan.

“I hope it does, because if you can mismanage something that badly and get away with it, what is going to stop you from doing it next time?” said Miller.

The Committee is hoping there will not be a next time now that their recommendations have been made to Highway Patrol.

Those recommendations include appropriate levels of training and documentation of that training.

Highway Patrol will add a captain to the Water Patrol division with exclusive Water Patrol duties to oversee all of Missouri waterways.

Franklin told ABC 17 News to make sure Highway Patrol is following through with the changes, the committee will check back in six months and then again in two years.

ABC 17 News did reach out to those who are responsible for making sure Highway Patrol is following protocol.

Patrol would not comment because of pending litigation but neither would the Director of Public Safety.

ABC 17 News also asked Gov. Nixon what his thoughts are on the merger after learning this information.

His spokesperson told ABC 17 News Nixon supported the merger in 2011 and still supports it.

One of Gov. Nixon’s main reasons for the merger was to save the state $3 million annually.

No documents prove that has happened, and Franklin said she learned the state has lost $900,000 a year because of the merger.