Keeping the peace in Spirit Lake

SPIRIT LAKE — Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris spoke Tuesday to the Spirit Lake City Council, telling them he supports maintaining law and order in the city, but that something must be done.

“I am here to say that your model for public safety in the city cannot be sustained,” Norris said.

The Spirit Lake Police Department only has one police officer after the resignation of Lt. Morgan John, leaving seven open positions and a vacant leadership position for a police chief.

The roughly 50 Spirit Lake residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting were outraged that the city is so under-policed. They demanded something be done as soon as possible, which the council members urgently supported.

After hearing the sheriff speak, the council decided to meet in a workshop at the earliest date the sheriff is available. The workshop would outline the terms for the sheriff to provide support to Spirit Lake.

Once complete, the contract would be brought before the city council as soon as possible for a vote to pursue services.

Norris is willing to help Spirit Lake establish a police presence, but only under a contract for services that details the parameters, and only if it’s approved by council.

Legally, the city is responsible for its own law enforcement, without entering into an agreement with the county, Norris said.

“I want to see our police department back, but we need something right now,” Councilman Gary Ventress said.

During the meeting, the sheriff presented a timeline of events outlining meetings with the former police chief, Spirit Lake Mayor Jeremy Cowperthwaite, and other city officials where the sheriff expressed a willingness to support Spirit Lake, but the meetings never led to a contract.

There was a time that KCSO deputies were covering Spirit Lake, but when the police chief resigned and the police station was unsupervised, the sheriff’s office rescinded that coverage.

“As a sheriff of the county, I am concerned that there is no supervision at the law enforcement systems within the walls of the Spirit Lake Police Department,” Norris said.

Now, with only one police officer and so much time in the week that the city goes unpatrolled, both residents and council members are demanding action, and many accused the mayor of lying.

“I’m mad as hell at y’all,” business owner Harry Burleson shouted to council.

The audience occasionally shouted at the mayor or council, and Patty Woods called the mayor dishonest.

“We are constantly fielding calls from citizens who are concerned about public safety,” Norris said. “As the chief law enforcement officer in this county, I am concerned about public safety. We are receiving many calls for service … Whether these are real or not is one thing. But, as a law enforcement agency, we have to address fear as measurable in the public, because we want the public to feel safe in their community.”

The solutions to the policing shortage will not be quick. Staffing the department will likely take up to a year, Undersheriff Brett Nelson said. And training and onboarding can take beyond a year, but the sheriff’s office would support Spirit Lake while they seek officers to fill open positions.

“Do you have the deputies?” Councilman Darrell Woods asked the sheriff.

The KCSO has been short staffed and working to fill vacant positions in its office.

“It would have to be a measured approach because I don’t have them,” Norris said.

A contract would ideally be ready to sign before the next city council meeting but that too could take time to draft after the proposed workshop meeting. The workshop will likely be noticed by the end of the week, and could be scheduled for early next week.