Officers honored for keeping impaired drivers off roads

Nine North Idaho law enforcement officers – and their combined 372 DUI tickets – were the honored guests of a mid-week banquet, as fellow officers, administrators and outside agencies recognized the “Top Cops” and their efforts in keeping impaired drivers off area roads.

In the basement of the Idaho Transportation Department, more than 30 people gathered at noon last Wednesday for the 10th annual awards ceremony, in recognition of the top DUI-ticketing officers in each of the Region One law enforcement agencies: Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police, as well as the city Police Departments of Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake. The event was put on in part by the Kootenai County Substance Abuse Council, a nonprofit group funded by the fees DUI-ticketed drivers must pay in attending a substance abuse class.

“All of these officers, all nine of them, are being awarded for the number of DUI arrests that they made in 2007. That’s the primary focus for the substance abuse council is to educate people about the dangers of impaired driving,” said Anita Kronvall, director of the council. “It’s a public safety issue first and foremost.”

The awards recognize “those officers who work exceptionally well in that area,” added Idaho State Police Sergeant Jonelle Greear.

Greear offered as an example of the danger in impaired driving a recent single-car crash fatality in Bonner County involving a suspected drunken driver. “Those are the kinds of people we want to keep off the road,” she said.

With a single bad decision, drivers under the influence can produce wide-spread consequences and leave a ripple effect in their wake, Kronvall said, adding that the issue has personally altered her life forever. In 2002, Kronvall’s daughter Carla was killed when a drugged driver’s car smashed into her daughter’s vehicle.

At the start of the banquet, Kronvall offered her appreciation to the officers. “First and foremost, we want to thank you for putting yourselves out there to protect us.”

With two agencies having a Top Cop tie, the nine officers were presented plaques and certificates for their arrests, with Kootenai County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Mumford topping the list with 84 citations. Since the substance abuse council started the ceremony in 1998, Mumford, who said his numbers are due primarily to working night shifts and being “out there when they are out there,” has been the recurrent frontrunner for DUI arrests for the Sheriffs Department.

After the presentation, several officers took the opportunity to congratulate the Top Cops. Remarks ranged from, “They really do make a difference, and they are saving lives,” to another uniformed officer adding, “Every DUI is a potential death that doesn’t occur.”