Boundary County Sheriff Kramer
Seeks Re-Election
Sheriff Dave Kramer has announced his candidacy to be reelected as the Sheriff for Boundary County, Idaho. Our county is blessed to have a sheriff that is Constitutionally grounded and a strong supporter of our Second Amendment rights.
Kramer brings an extensive law enforcement background for this position, starting at Bonners Ferry High School in 1974 as an Explorer Scout with the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office and then became an officer at the Bonners Ferry Police Department. He then became Bonners Ferry Police Chief after serving as an officer for 10 years. After serving as the Chief of Police for 20 years, he decided to teach at North Idaho College and the Idaho POST (Peace Officers Standards & Training), a regulatory program.
Before running for the position of Sheriff in 2016, Kramer was busy obtaining an impressive amount of experience: *executive level certification, the highest peace officer certification in Idaho obtained in 2000; *graduate of the National Sheriff’s Academy; *adjunct college instructor of criminal justice at North Idaho College; *past coordinator for NIC Basic Patrol Academy; *appointed as a Deputy with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office as part of a Complex Crimes Investigation team; *worked as an intern at a Regional Crime Lab; *Idaho Peace Officer certified instructor able to instruct any general topics courses; *member of the Idaho Sheriff’s Association and Western States’ Association; *Graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia; and *completed the FBI Command College.
Upon Kramer’s election to the office of Boundary County Sheriff, his first goal was to bring the county jail up to Idaho jail standards, and accomplished getting the jail fully certified for the first time ever, and has met the certification each year since.
Besides the jail certification, he has provided a number of security improvements for dispatch and the jail in order to protect the employees as well as the public, such as a security wall between the public and inmates going to court which provides extra security for the dispatch center, a jail security fence and sally-port area which was funded by a grant, and improvements to dispatch and the jail areas. The Idaho Forest Group provided a new flag pole.
Because Sheriff Kramer believes in being involved with the community, he has provided many community programs. The following are new programs created to improve the safety of our community as well as improvements to interact with the public: *Text 911; *Emergency Medical Dispatching; *Backcountry patrols; *Improved use of Nixle community alerts; *Narcan-drug overdose sprays and Defib units issued to all Deputies; *Deputies issued body cameras, obtained through a grant; *Obtained a contract with a collection agency to recover costs owed to the Sheriff’s Office and/or the county, saving taxpayer money; *deputized Bonner County Sheriff’s Deputies, Bonners Ferry Police Officers and Kootenai Tribal Police (if they have completed the Idaho POST Academy.) This has built relationships with these adjoining jurisdictions by cross deputizing. They train together in many areas and this has created a great working relationship between these law enforcement entities.
Kramer tells us, “The TEXT 911 is a recent addition to what the SO offers the community. With limited cell phone service in Boundary County, often times a person can get a text message out when they cannot get a voice call to go through. The TEXT 911 goes directly to dispatch.”
“The EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCHING is a recent addition which will assist the public with directions until emergency equipment arrives. The dispatchers have attended a training program to provide medical assistance off of standardized medical cards. This program was accomplished with the assistance of Boundary Ambulance and their medical advisor. We have now been equipped with gear such as trauma kits, Narcan for overdoses, defibrillators for cardiac issues, individual first aid kits, all designed for the deputies to be better prepared for when they are on patrol.”
In order to provide the best law enforcement for our community, at the same time saving money for the taxpayers, Sheriff Kramer has obtained a number of grants: *individual first aid kits, trauma kits, Defib units for all of patrol; *body armor for patrol; *body cameras; *jail fencing; *radios; *use of force grant to bring in a nationally recognized speaker (2 different years) to provide training to law enforcement officers in both Boundary and Bonner Counties; *integrated response to active shooter grant funded to bring in a trainer to teach local law enforcement and first responders; *dual sport motorbikes and equipment; *thermal imager for the marine boat; *Guardian RFID (radio frequency identification) technology for tracking inmate checks and medications; *inkless fingerprint system; *Stonegarden – Overtime and equipment. The OPSG program supports enhanced cooperation and coordination among Customs and Border Protection (CBP), United States Border Patrol (USBP), and local, tribal, territorial, state, and Federal law enforcement agencies.
The OPSG Program funds investments in joint efforts to secure the United States’ borders along routes of ingress from international borders to include travel corridors in states bordering Mexico and Canada, as well as states and territories with International water borders; *US Forest Service – overtime and equipment; *Party Patrol grant for underage drinking; *Parks and Recreation Marine Program with funds to assist with the marine program; *BNSF foundation with a grant to fund the start of a K9 program; *Parks and Recreation Off Highway Vehicle grant to support backcountry patrols and education; *Sheriff’s Association Back Country Patrols grant to assist with needed equipment for backcountry patrols; and a Hummer which can get to areas for medical emergencies that an ambulance is not able to access.
Kramer states “I believe in being involved with our community, and we have been able to offer many community outreach programs. Our Reserves have been a huge help in programs like the Sheriff’s labor program, where they monitor individuals that have been sentenced to do so many hours of community service. Picking up the trash alongside the roads and painting public buildings are some of the priority jobs of the Sheriff’s Labor Program.”
Kramer has expanded the Reserve program for patrol cold case investigations, the jail and many more projects where they have contributed hundreds of hours to our county. “We have a great Reserve program that volunteers their time and talent to assist the Sheriff’s Office from helping in the jail and transports, court security, crime scene assistance, public training classes, backcountry patrols, Sheriff’s Labor Program monitoring, and working on cold cases.”
In addition to getting the jail to meet State certification standards, he provided a new policy manual that is vetted by the Idaho Counties Insurance Carrier, has a new Records Management System for Dispatch, Jail, Civil and Patrol, provided the requirement that all Sheriff’s Office employees are part of the random drug testing program, equipment and building upgrades, using resources to cut costs and also go after the money owed back to the county (taxpayers), remodel of the armory to accommodate a portion of the Sheriff’s Office to move out of rented space.
Sheriff Kramer has plans to increase the use of the armory for patrol deputies, detectives, the DMV and more. He also has plans for a mobile command center and has plans to update the dispatch consoles.
In addition to a Sheriff’s Office Reserve program, with different levels for the Reserve Program, Kramer has brought forth the following Community Programs: *Off highway vehicle training taught by Sheriff’s Deputies, such as ATV, motorbike, side by side, for our youth; *Crime Prevention Community Awareness Seminars; * “Refuse to Be a Victim” Training; *Winter Driving seminars (this is especially great for transplants to our area that are not used to winter snow and ice conditions on our roads); *Drug Awareness training; *RX drug take back programs; *Sheriff’s Labor Program – cleaning up trash along the roadways, painting over graffiti, etc.; *Life Jacket loaner program (placed at the Waterways boat launch.) Sheriff Kramer just attended the Western States Sheriff’s Office Association meeting.
Besides everything he has done for our county as Sheriff, he also sits on the following boards: North Idaho Crisis Center, Boundary County Victim’s Advocate, Idaho Jail Standards, President of North Idaho College Advisory Board for the Patrol Academy and the FBI National Academy/North Idaho Advisory Board.
He is also involved in our community as a member of the Bonners Ferry Rotary (also a past president), active in supporting Special Olympics on a local, state and national level, member of the NRA, and in 2019 Kramer was voted as best peace officer in the Best of Boundary County.
He is also a past president of the Idaho Chiefs of Police, past president of the Idaho and Montana chapter of FBI National Academy Associates, past vice president of Idaho Emergency Managers Association, past vice commander of the Idaho State Search and Rescue Association, past chairman of the Boundary County Waterways and past director of Boundary County Emergency Management with over 20 years in this field.
Sheriff Kramer stated the following: “I believe as the Sheriff you have a great responsibility to do the right thing and be accessible to the people that you serve. I wear a uniform and respond to calls on a regular basis. Within my first couple of months as Sheriff I was first on scene of a homicide and arrested the suspect. We have a great team of employees that serve Boundary County from the Deputies, Detention, Dispatch, Civil, Driver’s License, Administrative and Reserves.”
The Idaho primary election is on May 19th, 2020 and Sheriff Dave Kramer would appreciate your vote.
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