Spirit Lake’s top cop resigns

Tony Lamanna resigned as police chief of Spirit Lake this month after failing a physical fitness test.

Mayor Roxy Martin, who has been acting police chief since Labor Day weekend, said Lamanna, in his late 50s, didn’t have the certification required for the job when he was hired in April 2005.

To receive certification in Idaho, law enforcement officers must pass a physical test and complete training through the Peace Officers Standards and Training Academy.

“He was never POST certified. Never, ever,” Martin said Tuesday. “He assured me he would be able to pass it.”

Martin said Lamanna had a year to become certified and was given a three-month extension to fulfill the requirements.

“He tried very, very hard,” she said.

Lamanna, a rotund man, said he spent three months training but suffered a stress fracture to his foot the day before the test. He said he taped his foot and tried to pass.

He said he did OK until he got to the required 1.5-mile run/walk and couldn’t finish the final lap because of the injury.

“I’m not using that as an excuse,” he said. “It’s just a plain truth. I reached down inside of myself to go beyond the pain, but I found my limit.”

Lamanna said he enjoyed working in Spirit Lake.

“The people in Spirit Lake were wonderful; they really were,” he said. “Like any small town, you got ups and downs. It broke my heart to leave.”

Martin said she was disappointed that Lamanna couldn’t meet the requirements for the job.

“I even wrote to the governor asking if we could get an exemption,” she said. The state’s response was that it wouldn’t interfere with the POST operations.

About a half dozen people have applied for the chief’s position, Martin said. The city is in the process of conducting background checks and could make a hire within two to three weeks, she said.

One requirement is that the applicants be POST certified, she said.

“I’m looking at somebody that will stay here, that wants a little town and wants to be the chief and retire from here,” she said.

Martin said she thought Lamanna could have been that person.

Since leaving Spirit Lake, Lamanna has been hired as a school resource officer in Priest River. He held the job for years before becoming chief and said he’s happy to be back in the schools.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than working with the young people,” he said.

Lamanna said he also plans on running for Bonner County sheriff when the position comes up for election. He lost by 36 votes to Sheriff Elaine Savage in the 2004 election.

There are no physical fitness requirements to be sheriff, he said.