School officer starts in Spirit Lake

Dave Koontz started working at Spirit Lake's three schools last week as the school resource officer.

"The nice part is that he already has experience in schools," said Keith Hutcheson, Spirit Lake's police chief. "When he came to me, he really wanted to do this. It's a good fit for everybody."

Koontz will split his time between Timberlake High School, Timberlake Junior High and Spirit Lake Elementary. During the summer, he will hit the streets of Spirit Lake and primarily work weekend and night shifts.

Koontz has worked at Spirit Lake Police for the past two years. Prior to that, he worked as a deputy for the Clearwater County Sheriff's Office for three years. Being a SRO was part of his duties at Clearwater County.

There was a SRO in Spirit Lake schools - and at Lakeland High and Lakeland Junior High in Rathdrum - several years ago before funding for the positions ran out.

Hutcheson said he's received a lot of positive comments about having a SRO back at Spirit Lake.

"Even people who don't have kids in school have said that it's great having someone in the schools because children need to be protected," Hutcheson said. "This will allow us to be more proactive about being in schools than reactive."

Spirit Lake Police this year was awarded a $120,000 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant through the U.S. Department of Justice to help fund the position for three years.

The Lakeland Joint School District and the city of Spirit Lake will each chip in $30,000 over three years. The grant and school district will pay for the officer's salary and benefits. The city's cost will outfit and train the officer and pay for any needed overtime.

Rathdrum Police and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office serve Lakeland's other schools on an as-needed basis.

Koontz is the father of Daniel Koontz, who is a Post Falls police officer.