Police chief remembered

Two communities – law enforcement and Hayden Lake – bade farewell Wednesday to a man who served as a monument to the power of simplicity.

Hundreds honored former Hayden Lake Police Chief Jason Felton, 54, a family man who spent virtually his entire career as a one-man police force in the same hamlet where he spent summers as a boy.

“He was the guy who loved being a cop more than anybody I know,” said Capt. Ben Wolfinger of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. “Jason and the city of Hayden Lake was a perfect match. If a car was out of place, he knew it.”

Felton retired not long after he was diagnosed in March 2006 with Lou Gehrig’s disease. After the disease slowly took his ability to function, his family gathered around him Friday as his ventilator was unplugged.

He was honored Wednesday with more than 100 squad cars that led the procession to Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens.

“I knew I had friends,” Jason Felton told The Spokesman-Review in June 2006. “I just didn’t know I would have as many as I got.”

Felton embraced the concept of community-based policing long before it became a renewed focus of police agencies, explained Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Wayne Longo. His career was based on integrity, principles and the love of being a cop, Longo said.

Wednesday’s service filled the Real Life Ministries in Post Falls as law enforcement officers from Spokane, Spokane County, Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, Idaho State Police and federal agencies gathered to honor Felton.

Wolfinger worked alongside Felton for most of the 27 years Felton served in Hayden Lake.

“It’s because of the person he was. He understood service,” he said. “That’s why you see this outpouring.”

Longo said he remembers when Felton was sworn in as chief of Hayden Lake, which is roughly six square miles in size.

“He knew everybody. Not everybody can work in the small communities,” Longo said. “But Jason did it. And he always had a great sense of humor.”

Pastor Greg Turbin spoke of conversations he had with Felton near the end. For several months, Felton had lost the ability to speak. He relied on his eyes to communicate with his family.

“I spent the majority of my life avoiding him,” Turbin joked. “For those of us who grew up in Hayden and Hayden Lake, we often wondered if he had a home because he was always out there on the street.”

Longo told how as a young narcotics officer he and his colleagues at the Idaho State Police had set up surveillance in Hayden Lake. The officers debated whether Felton would catch them speeding through the tiny town on their way to the sting.

Like clockwork, Felton picked up on the speeding car and pulled Longo over. “And now he’s chasing the police,” Longo said.

As Felton approached Longo with handcuffs, he realized what was happening and began laughing.

“He was known for somewhat stretching the lines of his jurisdiction,” Longo said as he smiled. “There will truly never be anybody like Jason.”

Wolfinger said Felton took the light bar off his squad car “so he could be sneaky.”

“He worked split shifts. He didn’t have to do that,” Wolfinger said.

“But he knew the best way to serve the community was to work odd hours so the crooks never knew when he would be working.”