Meet police chief Brian Zimmerman

BONNERS FERRY — There is a new “61” in town.

On April 17, Brian Zimmerman was sworn in as the new Bonners Ferry police chief by Bonners Ferry Mayor David Sims, in front of a packed room of people. For Zimmerman, this was coming home. He began his law enforcement career in Bonners Ferry in 1981 as a reserve officer for the Bonners Ferry Police Department.

“In 1982 I took a full time position with the City Police. Harold Sims, the current mayor’s father, is the one who swore me in, as a reserve and full time officer,” said Zimmerman.

Zimmerman worked for three years as a full-time officer in Bonners Ferry before applying and receiving a job with the Idaho State Police. He went through their academy and was assigned to Coeur d’Alene where he worked for three years.

“At the end of that three years, the trooper that was up here at the time, retired. My wife and I had a decision whether or not we were going to come back home, and we decided that this was the best place to raise our family,” explained Zimmerman. “So we transferred to Bonners Ferry as the one resident trooper.”

Boundary County Sheriff Dave Kramer was the police chief at the time and he and Zimmerman worked closely together. He was given a desk in the police department where he did all of his office work and reports, which helped foster a close working relationship with the city police.

“I worked very closely with them, as well as the Sheriff’s office,” said Zimmerman. “The color of the uniform didn’t matter. We were all one family. We were always there for each other. That’s just the way it was.”

For the next 17 years, Zimmerman worked as the Bonners Ferry Resident Trooper, and was responsible for all the state highways within Boundary County, as well as assisting both the city and county when needed.

“I had full intentions of retiring here in Bonners Ferry,” said Zimmerman. “I thought maybe toward the end of my career, maybe I’ll try to take a sergeant’s exam and maybe work Coeur d’Alene for a couple years to just enhance the retirement a little bit with the promotion.”

After 20 years with ISP, Zimmerman took the sergeant’s test.

“There wasn’t an opening in Coeur d’Alene and I wasn’t going anywhere else,” said Zimmerman. “I just wanted to know what that test was like so I took the test.”

The test was scenario based, and with all of Zimmerman’s experience, he passed it and was offered a job in Pocatello as a sergeant.

“I wasn’t interested in moving to Pocatello and turned it down. I got a call from the captain at the time in Pocatello and he said don’t turn it down until you come down and look around and talk,” Zimmerman explained.

“People who don’t live in Pocatello don’t realize how great a place it can be. There is some awesome people there; world-class snowmobiling, world-class mountain biking, and he talked us into coming to Pocatello,” said Zimmerman. “So we picked up our marbles, sold our house, and moved to Pocatello, where I had full intentions of retiring. We loved it.”

After two years, a close friend of Zimmerman’s, who was a captain in Boise, began calling him and asking him to test for lieutenant, so that he could move to Boise and work for him. Zimmerman refused the offer, preferring the small town life. His friend persisted, calling every day. Finally Zimmerman relented and took the test, resulting in him being the first on the roster.

“I moved to Boise out of loyalty to our friendship, not because I wanted to live there, nor did I care about the promotion. Rank is not something that was my goal in life,” said Zimmerman.

Boise is the busiest district and has the highest concentration of troopers, so the experience was very different from others that Zimmerman had done.

“Probably one of the most stressful jobs I have ever had,” he said. “The phone was ringing all the time with a trooper in a crash, in a pursuit, or a shooting. It is just constant.”

After three years working as a lieutenant on patrol, there was an opening for a captain position at headquarters. Zimmerman tested for the position and received it, which moved him away from all of the immediate emergencies. He kept checking his phone, thinking something may be wrong with it, since it was not constantly ringing.

The captains position brought a whole different set of responsibilities, including capital security, executive protection for the governor, supreme court security, all the hiring for ISP, testing for ISP, backgrounds for ISP, as well as being the budget captain.

“I had a 46 million dollar responsibility. Most of that was earmarked for wages and stuff like that, but I did all the equipment purchases, decisions on gear and cars. I would buy 20 cars at a time,” Zimmerman explained.

After a few years in that position, Zimmerman’s life took a detour. He was offered a job as a factory representative with Arctic Cat, a manufacturer of snowmobiles, ATVs, and side by sides. As an avid outdoorsman and snowmobiler, Zimmerman felt like it was time for an adventure. He had surpassed his points for retirement, so he made the move. The job took him to Texas and Louisiana, and eventually back to Idaho when a local position opened up. After some time with the company, Zimmerman had a decision to make.

“I had all the toys in my garage but couldn’t play with them because I didn’t have time. I was always gone,” he said. “It was good money but it wasn’t something I was interested in doing any longer. I’m glad I did it. It was a great experience.”

Zimmerman left that job, and settled in to retirement, spending his days pursuing his other passion- fishing. After about nine or 10 months, he was approached by his former neighbor, the mayor of Middleton. He wanted to discontinue his contract with the county and establish a police department. After initially turning him down, Zimmerman agreed, if his conditions were met. They were.

“So I started the police department there at Middleton. I had nothing but a desk and an ISP polo shirt. I didn’t have a uniform, no equipment- nothing. No cars,” said Zimmerman. “Three months later we took our first call. We had police cars, uniforms. We were ready to run.”

For two and a half years, Zimmerman ran the eight man department, leaving an May 2017.

“We had some really good people over the years. Some are still there, some are not,” he said.

Zimmerman found himself retired once again, until he received a call from Idaho State Police Colonel Kedrick Wills, wanting him to do some work for him interviewing ISP employees.

“He knew that there was great ideas at the ground level, but often doesn’t get communicated to the top, and he wanted to make sure that he had those ideas at his fingertips,” explained Zimmerman. “It was a great idea and a great program.”

Over the next four months, Zimmerman interviewed 450 people around the state, completing the report early in 2018.

“During all this time, my wife is still working at the hospital and loving her job. Now I’m retired again and looking at the weather for the next fishing day. There is some great kokanee fishing in the area. The really close friend that I moved to Boise for is retired and we fished all the time,” said Zimmerman.

Despite the fishing, Zimmerman and his wife questioned what their next move together was going to be.

“Then I got a call last week from one of the city councilmen, that they wanted me to be the chief of police here,” he said. “I said okay, I’ll come up and talk, but that is all I am going to commit to. There were certain conditions that would have to be met before I am interested.”

On April 16, Zimmerman came up to Bonners Ferry and met with the mayor and city council, which included Council President Rick Alonzo, who is a former Bonners Ferry Police Chief.

“At the end of that conversation — which was lengthy — Monday afternoon I accepted the position and was sworn in Tuesday night,” said Zimmerman. “It’s gone very quickly.”

When Zimmerman gave the news to his wife, she replied, “That’s an answer to a prayer. That’s where we belong.”

As Zimmerman takes charge of the Bonners Ferry Police Department, he brings 27 years of experience with him. He plans to bring back the old feeling that he had when he was here before, where the color of the uniform does not matter.

“City, County, Tribal, Border Patrol — we are all one family working for the same goal,” he explained.

“I want these guys in the city, the officers, to love their job like I’ve loved it all my life,” said Zimmerman. “There is definitely some negatives about this kind of work, but the positives outweigh that. It’s not a job, for any of us, it is a calling.”

And it is that calling that has brought Zimmerman back, again and again, from retirement.

“I’m just one of the guys trying to make their life better and job easier. That’s what I want to try to do. At the same time, help the city to be safe,” said Zimmerman. “I’ve got ownership in this community. I was born here.”

On the night that Zimmerman was sworn in, he was given the badge number 61.

“For me, it is such an honor, to have that badge number, the same number as Don Hamilton who hired me, who knew me in high school, who hired me as a reserve, and later as a full time officer. The same number as Dave Kramer, and Rick Alonzo- these people that over the years have honored that number,” said Zimmerman.

After he was sworn in, Kramer said to the mayor, the council, and the audience, that Zimmerman was the best choice they could have made, to which he received nods of agreement from around the packed room.

“I have known and worked with Brian for many years, he is a great friend that will bring his experience, integrity and passion for law enforcement to his hometown,” explained Kramer later. “It will be great working with him again. He is someone that I have always respected.”