After drowning death, police urge water safety

COEUR d’ALENE — After a man drowned in the Spokane River near North Idaho College last weekend, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is urging the public to be safe on the water.

Sheriff Bob Norris expressed condolences to the family of Ismail Bilmece, the 35-year-old Spokane Valley resident who drowned July 1.

Norris also praised the rescue efforts of Deputy Jordan Joling, who said she was on routine boat patrol when people flagged her down to report a possible drowning.

“Somebody had gone underneath the water and had not come back up,” Joling said Friday.

Joling tied a rope around her ankle and jumped into the river. She had to dive about 10 feet down in order to reach Bilmece and bring him to the surface.

With the help of other deputies, Joling got Bilmece onto the boat and then to shore, where first responders performed lifesaving measures. Bilmece was transported to Kootenai Health, where he was later pronounced dead.

“(Joling) did an outstanding job,” Norris said. “Although it didn’t have the outcome we wanted, it doesn’t take away from her dedication to this community.”

Joling has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 2017. Though she’s part of the dive rescue team, her role is to provide assistance to divers from the boat, not to get into the water herself.

Lt. Justin Arts said Joling risked her own life in an attempt to save Bilmace’s. He emphasized the difficulty and danger of pulling someone out of the water without any flotation gear.

“To do this is nothing but heroism,” Arts said. “It’s not something she’s been trained to do. In the moment, she saw the need and so she filled that need.”

The incident remains under investigation.

Arts implored the public to make safe choices while swimming, boating or otherwise recreating on the water, particularly if alcohol is involved.

“If you’re out on the water, if you’re enjoying what northern Idaho provides, do it safely and do it responsibly,” he said. “Wear a life jacket. Make sure you have a sober driver.”

Between June 30 and July 5, a total of 97 people were booked into the Kootenai County jail. This includes people who were arrested for alleged offenses over the holiday week, as well as people who were jailed for other reasons, such as being remanded to jail after sentencing.

Kootenai County residents made up the bulk of of the arrests, 60 in total. Five residents of other Idaho counties were arrested. The remaining individuals were from out of state, including 24 Washington residents.

Norris said “significantly fewer” out-of-state visitors were arrested in Kootenai County over the Fourth of July holiday. He said he’s interested in exploring options for how to fund law enforcement services.

“We would like to have conversations with the governor of Idaho and the Legislature of Idaho to consider local option taxing,” Norris said Friday. “Many of the users of law enforcement services, not only in this holiday weekend, but generally, are not the property tax payers.”

Some Idaho resort cities have a local sales tax in addition to the state sales tax.

These local sales taxes are also known as local “option” taxes because they are decided by the voters in the community affected, according to the Idaho State Tax Commission. Some cities choose to limit the sales tax to lodging, alcohol by the drink and restaurant food, but they can include everything that’s subject to the state sales tax.

In Idaho, 19 cities have local sales taxes, including Sandpoint and Kellogg, both of which impose a tax on tourist lodging.