KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Police in Idaho are at risk of losing a place to train officers.
Currently, North Idaho police officers are trained on how to operate police and emergency vehicles at the Coeur d’Alene Airport.
“Any time an officer gets behind the vehicle, there’s an enormous amount of liability associated with that,” said Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Chris Wagar.
The training is essential for not only officers’ safety, but also the public’s safety.
“It affects all of the citizens within the community to make sure they’re safe. The idea of picking up 9-1-1 and making that phone call and somebody not being able to respond because they can’t meet the requirements… that’s a scary thought,” said Lieutenant Wagar.
To become an officer, one has to complete 40 hours of Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) training. Once hired, officers are required to go through a four-hour training every two years to keep their skills fresh.
The training space at Coeur d’Alene Airport will soon be unavailable as the airport continues to expand.
The next available training cite is hours away in Boise.
“It’s a hassle and a road trip and it’s an opportunity cost. There are officers that are no longer in our community, protecting our community, because they’re having to travel to get to training that the state requires,” said CDAPD Captain Dave Hagar.
The North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene runs the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Academy, which serves the northern 10 counties.
NIC has the land needed to establish a new EVOC training center, but it lacks the funding to build the facility.
“We would have officers that technically wouldn’t be able to work the road. They wouldn’t be able to respond to situations because they’re not meeting state-mandated requirements and training,” said Lieutenant Wagar.
Law enforcement agencies statewide are asking legislators to secure the funding to build a new facility, which is estimated to cost around 12 million dollars.
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