Board Members

Justin Bradley is a sixth generation Montanan and was raised in the Bitterroot valley. After graduating from Stevensville High School in 2001, he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he was assigned to Second Battalion Third Marines in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Shortly after graduating from the School of Infantry he participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in the Philippines. He served on three more deployments the last being in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Justin received the rank of Sergeant and was honorably discharged in April 2006. He then enrolled in Flathead Valley Community College and later transferred to the University of Montana where he graduated with a degree in Sociology/Criminology in 2010.

Shortly after graduating Justin was hired as a misdemeanor probation officer and helped design and implement a new misdemeanor probation program for the city of Missoula. In 2012, he was hired as a Probation and Parole Officer for the Montana Department of Corrections in Bozeman. He began working as a traditional officer but later became an Intensive Supervision Officer (ISP). In 2014 Justin transferred to Missoula where he continued to work as an ISP Officer before transitioning back to a standard Probation/Probation Parole Officer in 2018. He is currently a liaison for the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department, the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program and a DSO for the US Marshal Service. Justin has had the opportunity to work closely with numerous drug investigations, violent crimes and fugitive apprehensions.

Bill Pandis was born in Choteau, and raised in Great Falls, MT. He is currently the Sergeant of the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigation Division. Bill started his law enforcement career in Missoula County as a Detention Officer in January of 2000. He worked for the Missoula County Detention Center until about September of 2004. At that point he was hired as a Deputy Sheriff for the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office and served as a Deputy Coroner. In November of 2011, Bill left the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office as the Patrol Sergeant and was hired with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office. In November of 2015 Bill was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Bureau where he primarily investigated major crimes and crimes against children. In the early fall of 2022 Bill was promoted to Sergeant, and shortly afterwards he was assigned as the supervisor for their investigations division. Up until recently Bill was assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children position for the LCSO, and still serves as a Federal Task Force Officer for Helena’s FBI VCAC Task Force and is a sworn United States Special Deputy Marshall.

In addition, Bill has held and currently holds numerous extra duty positions with the LCSO, including Field Training Officer, Hostage Negotiator, a Team Leader of the LCSO and Helena Police Department Joint Civil Disobedience Team, Background Investigator, a former board member of the Lewis and Clark County DUI Task Force, and a member of the Helena area Child Protection and Multi-Disciplinary Teams. Also, Bill was recognized as the LCSO Deputy of the Year for 2017, and Bill has served on the MVCIA Board since 2018.

Detective Shane Bancroft was born and raised in Northern New Jersey but has lived in the Billings, Montana area since 1998. He served with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office from 1998 to 2021. Over the course of his career he served as a Patrol Deputy, a Field Training Officer, a Coroner, a Detective and a Crisis Negotiator. He has instructed at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy. Shane was assigned to the HIDTA/CCSIU Drug Task Force from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2019 to 2021, serving in an undercover capacity and as case agent. He was assigned to the YCSO- Detective Division from 2010 to 2019. In 2012, Shane attended the 31st Session of The National Forensic Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. The course of study included training at “The Body Farm” at The Anthropological Research Center at the University of Tennessee. He is an IAI Certified Crime Scene Investigator. Shane is certified in shooting reconstruction, blood stain pattern analysis and handwriting and document analysis. His Investigations focused felony cases, with interest in Homicide, Violent Crime and Suspicious Death Investigations. Detective Bancroft was on the lead investigative team for major crimes for the majority of his Detective career. Detective Bancroft is now employed by the State of Montana, conducting Investigations for the Department of Labor and Industry. He continues to teach and consult in Death and Criminal Investigations.

Richard Collins spent his early childhood years in various cities across the United States, a vast majority of his childhood and education occurred on the east coast where he grew up. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. During his time in the US Air Force, he was assigned to the 28th Security Police Squadron, now the 28th Security Forces Squadron. During his time in the US Air Force, he was assigned to various roles including flightline security, base patrols and as a Law Enforcement Desk Sergeant, both stateside and when deployed overseas in support of various operations. Richard moved to Montana in 1997 where he began his career with the Montana Department of Corrections working with juveniles at Riverside Youth Correctional Facility. During his early years with the Department, he also worked as a Drill Instructor/Facilitator at the Treasure State Correctional Training Center. In 2000, he was hired as a Deputy Sheriff with the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office where he was a D.A.R.E. Officer and Reserve Forces Commander. Richard returned to the Department of Corrections in 2005 as a Drill Instructor/Victim Impact Facilitator before being promoted to Senior Drill Instructor.

In 2007, Richard began his career with the Office of Investigations where his primary focus was PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) cases that involved sexual assaults and staff sexual misconduct. In addition to investigating both criminal and administrative cases, he was responsible for facilitating numerous courses on PREA for the department and other agencies across Montana. After approximately three years, Richard transitioned to a general case Investigator where he began investigating a variety of felony cases, including violent crime investigations, death investigations and miscellaneous drug investigations; while continuing to advise on PREA related matters and instruct PREA related courses for the department and other outside agencies.

Currently, Richard’s focus is conducting background investigations, investigations of personnel associated with the Department, and the Unified Intelligence Team for the Department. In addition to his role as a Criminal Investigator and working with various local, state, and federal partners, he conducts numerous training courses for the Department including firearms, PREA Investigator Training, Comprehensive Officer Resiliency, and Ethics. Richard began attending the MVCIA Conference in 2014 and was a previous member of the Northwest Gang Investigator Association.