Federal Money Buys Community Cops Panhandle Officers Get Help With Neighborhood Programs

A halfmillion dollars is headed to North Idaho and it’s wearing a police badge.

Thousands of dollars in federal money was granted Wednesday to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department, Post Falls Police Department and Spirit Lake Police Department to hire new “community policing” officers.

President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno announced Wednesday that 6,660 law enforcement agencies around the country will receive federal grants to help hire the additional officers.

The program, called “Cops Fast,” is funded by last fall’s crime bill and is an attempt to get additional officers to smaller departments quickly, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Justice.

The community policing officers are supposed to develop close ties with the community they work in.

“They’re there every day, they have an opportunity to see who the regulars are, they develop a better rapport with the people,” said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Lt. Ben Wolfinger.

Thirty-nine Idaho agencies will receive more than $2.5 million from the Cops Fast program.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department received the third largest sum - $135,666 to hire two new officers.

Two experienced officers then will be assigned full-time as community police officers to the Hayden area, Wolfinger said.

“Hopefully they’ll be a lot more involved in community activities, things we don’t have a lot of time to do right now,” Wolfinger said.

The sheriff’s department made 131 arrests in Hayden last year and gave out 839 citations there. Deputies provided 6,651 hours of service - enough for three full-time police officers, Wolfinger said.

Hayden used to have its own police department but financial problems forced them to shut it down in the early 1980s, Wolfinger said.

The department expects to have the new officers in place by July 1.

The Post Falls Police Department received $68,629 and will hire another officer to work in the patrol division.

“There’s been a significant increase in calls for services as a result of an increasing number of people that are either living in or visiting our community,” said Chief Cliff Hayes.

The Spirit Lake Police Department received $42,300.

The grants will pay for 75 percent of the officers’ salaries and benefits for three years. The police and sheriff’s departments will have to provide the remaining salary, training and equipment for the new positions.