SPIRIT LAKE, IDAHO – Mayor Jeremy Cowperthwaite remains both unreachable and unresponsive to basic inquiries into the administrative review of two city police officers’ use of force in a critical incident on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, that resulted in the death of a 67-year-old woman, S.A. Floyd.
In an attempt to provide the community the bare minimum of transparency, Kootenai Journal representatives posed three questions to Cowperthwaite. First, what law enforcement agency has been selected to conduct the administrative review of the officers’ use of force? Second, what is the name and rank of the officer who has taken the lead on the administrative review? Third, what law enforcement agencies were considered before selecting the one that is conducting the review?
Furthermore, Cowperthwaite was given the opportunity to issue an official statement to the residents of Spirit Lake regarding this issue. At this time, there has been no response from Cowperthwaite, nor has any other elected city official, or city hall staff, provided any answers.
When the same inquires were sent to the Spirit Lake Police Department, the unofficial response came from an officer who made assurances that a full accounting of the administrative review would be forthcoming as soon as the top prosecutor gives them leave to release the information, claiming Idaho statute prohibits releasing any specifics. No code title or statute number was cited by the officer, just the directions given to the department from the prosecutor’s office.
It was confirmed by a press release from the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office that the agency has completed its investigation into the factual events of the officer-involved shooting. The investigation was conducted by Detective Denning, who turned the report over the the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, December 18, 2023. Now the prosecutor’s office will conduct a legal review of the factual evidence to see whether or not the officers’ actions were justified.
