Parker changes roles but continues fight against trafficking

Imagine family dinner on Christmas. All are gathered together and have just sat down to enjoy their time together when the pagers start going off. Husband and wife do not hesitate. They kiss their children goodbye and head out to someone in trouble, to some emergency where they are needed.

This is what happened to Jeanne Parker and her husband Brad in 2010. There was no question of whether or not they would go. And their family did not complain.

“My children understood that we are in service to our community, not just my husband and I, but our whole family. That meant there were times I wasn’t going to get to be there with them,” Parker said.

Parker remembers that Christmas and hundreds of other occasions when the job called her away from her family.

“This is the kind of thing our guys face every day. What they give up in order to do this job is nothing less than admirable,” she said.

When Brian Heino was elected as the new Flathead County sheriff, Parker became the detective commander. She has kept these memories close as she has stepped into that role because they help her to lead, encourage, understand and aid the detectives and deputies in the department. Now, following more than two decades of service in law enforcement in the Flathead Valley Jeanne Parker is saying farewell to Sheriff’s Office.

And yet, her mission continues.

Parker plans to join the DeliverFund team. She has a conditional offer from them and if all comes together, her new title will be director of special operations. She’ll be supporting, advising and training members of law enforcement in the effort to eradicate human trafficking.

Seeing an end to human trafficking is a cause that is close to Parker’s heart. In the beginning, Parker could not have known where her choices would lead her, but with hindsight the path to this new position is clear.

In the late 1990s, while working for the Columbia Falls Police Department, Parker was called out to a scene where a 5-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by someone visiting her family.

“Twenty years ago we didn’t have the Children’s Advocacy Center, we didn’t have the resources, we didn’t have the protocols and procedures in place to deal with the sexual abuse of children,” said Parker. The need she clearly saw in that case resonated with her.

In 2004, when Parker transferred into the detective branch of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Parker saw that not enough progress had been made in this area.

“There was a Child Advocacy model in place out in Helena, but mostly this was something that was only found outside Montana,” said Parker. “We still weren’t working as a team with Child Protective Services and with the attorneys.”

Parker began researching those out-of-state models. She got involved with someone who has done this work on the national level and began asking exactly what was needed.

“Once I understood the programs, I thought, ‘We can do that.’ So we did.”

The accreditation process for the Flathead County Children’s Advocacy Center happens every five years. Parker smiles as she notes that the center has now been accredited for the third time.

The Advocacy Center has grown into a multidisciplinary team that coordinates the investigation of child abuse. An advisory board consists of representative from a variety of partner agencies.

“To this day the Children’s Advocacy Center has been one of the extreme successes. It ensures that children are both helped and protected,” Parker noted.

Parker then branched into the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

In 2005 Parker worked on a child pornography case and found there was no one locally to help her with the technical aspects of the case.

“We weren’t equipped with the technology to investigate this kind of crime and we weren’t even sure how to create a search warrant for the kind of evidence we needed to gather,” she recalled.

Parker reached out to United States Assistant Attorney in Billings Marcia Hurd.

“She walked me through that case,” said Parker. “At that time, they were just formalizing a team for Montana. I wanted in because who doesn’t want to help children?” asked Parker. She started with the Internet Crimes Against Children team in 2007 and has been with them ever since. Even after being promoted to detective commander, she continued her work with the ICAC task force.

From 2007 to 2014 Parker was able to get training, technology and some funding, but it was not enough for a full-time position. During those years she did her regular shift work and then came in on days off to work on the internet crimes.

“I think people fail to recognize why law enforcement officers do what they do. There is a need to fulfill the need to protect,” she explained. “We all have a need to keep our families safe, but in law enforcement officers, that expands to protecting all of the people we live in community with. For those who uphold their oath of office, this is a 24/7 commitment.”

Parker’s most recent project has been the newly created Runaway Juvenile Stabilization Program.

“Every day, week, month, we have children who run away,” said Parker. “We know that these are often the children most at-risk to drugs, alcohol, human trafficking and criminal activity.”

There are many reasons a child can choose to runaway. In some cases the reason will be to escape physical harm or sexual abuse.

“If a child is being victimized we would be remiss if we didn’t ask why and look for those reasons,” she said.

The new school resource officers will play an integral part of this program.

”I’d like to see this program on a bit more secure,” she said. We need personnel, we are relying a lot on our volunteer.”

Parker sees her role as one who “stands in the gap.” She listens to the horror stories, offers aid to those who are suffering and facing some of the worst moments of their life. It’s a mission that can take an emotional toll.

“The amount of commitment, dedication and personal sacrifice I see from the officers in our department is hard to quantify. I know it exists in other places, but I sometimes I wonder if those other places have the kind of heart that our people have,” she said.

Parker is passing the torch to Josh Buls, who is taking over as detective commander.

As she looks back at all she’s done and been a part of in the course of her career Parker smiles. “To be a part of an organization, and then to be able to makes changes for the good from within that organization that serve our community, I don’t think I could have asked for a more fulfilling career.”

Brenda Ahearn may be reached at 758-4435 or bahearn@dailyinterlake.com.