During this campaign I have heard a lot of rumors flying around the county. My goal in sharing this story with the public is not to sling mud but is to simply tell my side of the story. I believe the public has a right to know what happened to cause me to run for sheriff.
My story in Benewah starts in 1998 when I joined Benewah County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). I served in various rolls including Undersheriff up until 2019.
In 2019 I was the Patrol Sergeant, which put me directly in charge of the deputies. I had been undersheriff under a previous administration but when Sheriff Tharp announced he was retiring, Dave Resser wanted to run for sheriff. I decided to take the Sergeant job so i could stay with the Sheriff’s Office. I was not demoted as some have claimed, i choose to step back.
When Dave Resser was Elected Sheriff, he chose Anthony Eells to be the undersheriff and i began working under Undersheriff Tony Eells. My job was to manage and train the deputies.
During the Resser and Eells administration i started to notice things change from how we had been doing things under previous administrations.
The following items are a description of some of the key issues leading up to the meeting on May 3, 2019.
Management Issues
Issue: Use of Confidential Informants (CI).
In previous administration’s there was a list of Confidential Informants (CI) kept in the sheriffs office so that there was accountability and transparency with CI interactions. Resser did away with that and in this January 9 2017 Article the Inlander states: Benewah County Sheriff David Resser says his agency doesn’t use CIs and therefore has no policy. But a little over a month after that article on the February 18th 2017 there is a documented use of a Confidential Informant (CI) by Sheriffs Department that came up in the Hill Vs Benewah Lawsuit. In July 2018 there was also another documented use of a CI by the Sheriffs department in the Renfro vs Benewah Lawsuit.
Using Confidential Informants is not the issue, how Resser and Eells chose to manage CI’s is the issue. Denying the use of Confidential Informants (CI) when they were clearly being used being the biggest issue as it was not being honest with the public in the Inlander article. Other issues include lack of a formal policy and accountability in how deputies used CI information to get warrants.
Solution: As sheriff I would not use Confidential Informants
Issue: Missing deputy Car and Body Camera footage
- Multiple times with multiple deputies that had Body and or Car Camera video footage that was incomplete, missing key details, or did not get recorded at all.
Deputies were told to use their Car Camera as a primary video source and to use the body camera as a secondary video source when they were away from their car.
- Multiple times with multiple deputies, Body and or Car Camera video footage was not uploaded to the Sheriff’s office computer system.
Policy was to keep all camera footage for 60 Days to assure officer safety, transparency and to help protect the county in the event of a lawsuit.
I had told the deputies multiple times to upload their camera footage to the computer system and some deputies still were not following that procedure.
These issues were verbally discussed with Undersheriff Eells and but the problem with the deputies still kept occurring.
Solution: As Sheriff i would require deputies to use Car and Body Cameras and to upload ALL video footage to a secure server to keep the footage for at least 60 days. This would be done to assure transparency and protect all involved parties rights.
Deputy Issues
On May 3, 2019 I went to meet with Sheriff Dave Resser with concerns about personnel issues between the deputies, Undersheriff Eells and Myself. I had been having multiple issues with multiple deputies that were not following orders. When i would try to hold them accountable, they would complain to my boss (Undersheriff Eells) that i was picking on them. Rather than holding the deputies accountable for their actions, Undersheriff Eells told the deputies that, it was just Bryan nitpicking and that tomorrow Bryan would find someone else to pick on. Needless to say this undermined any sort of accountability in the deputies and i felt it needed to be brought to Sheriff Resser attention.
Below are some of the key issues with deputies that motivated me to talk with Sheriff Resser and Undersheriff Anthony Eells on May 3 2019.
Private Property Damage: Attempting to kill a dog without a Court Order
Event Notes: On 6-18-2017 Deputy Brandon Vannatter took a problem dog in an attempt to put the animal down. He shot the dog in the head but the dog ran off. It showed up a few days later with a “bullet wound”. (No logs of this report)
Outcome: After this event all deputies were advised that vicious dogs that were not an imminent threat may not be destroyed without a court order.
Administrative Action: Verbal Reprimand to Deputy
Source: Internal investigation completed by Benewah County Sheriff’s Office Detective Richardson on 7-3-2019
Search and Seizure Issues: On 1-1-2019 Deputy Brandon Vannatter initiates a traffic stop. The passenger gets out of the vehicle and puts a backpack on the ground. On the video recording, Deputy Vannatter is advised by Deputy Dustin Pulley to take his time. During the search Vannatter moves the back pack, back into the car and includes it in the search of the vehicle.
Outcome: Case was dismissed by Benewah County Prosecutor due to Search and Seizure issues regarding the backpack and its contents (Methamphetamine and Paraphernalia).
Administrative Action: None
Source: Internal investigation completed by Benewah County Sheriff’s Office Detective Richardson on 7-3-2019
Exceeding Scope of Terry Search: On 4-16-2019 Deputy Brandon Vannatter initiated a traffic stop due to an obstructed license plate. During the course of the stop he claimed to smell burnt marijuana. He proceeded to search the vehicle and then search the inside the passengers pockets without consent of the passenger.
Outcome: Prosecutor Thie noted that searching inside the pockets without permission exceeded the scope of a terry search but did not rise to the level to preclude prosecution.
My Action: Reported issue to Undersheriff Eells who said he would take care of it.
Administrative Action: None
Source: Internal investigation completed by Benewah County Sheriff’s Office Detective Richardson on 7-3-2019.
Additional Notes: The video i was shown by the prosecutor was from Deputy Pulleys chest camera. Deputy Brandon Vannatter had turned off his car video system and had no chest camera video of searches.
Additional Incidents after May 3, 2019
Private Property Damage: Slashing $7,000 worth of tires
Event Summary: A little over a month and a half (6-15-2019) after i talked to Sheriff Resser and Undersheriff Eells about deputy conduct issues, Deputy Brandon Vannatter destroyed $7,000 worth private property by slashing tires. He had permission from Sheriff Resser to disable vehicles as long as it wasn’t permanent.
Event Notes: The vehicles could have been disabled by simply removing taking relays, fuses, or unplugging fuel injectors. These methods of disabling a vehicle would have prevented the tax payers of Benewah County from having to foot the bill for $7,000 in property damage. If a private citizen had done this, as happened in 2010, they would have been charged as a felony for malicious injury to property.
Administrative Action: Verbal Reprimand to Deputy
Deputy Decertified from Post: Brandon Vannatter was decertified from Idaho Post Academy due to “a past felony conviction, certification fraud, code of ethics violation and lying.” according to a 2023 article in the St Maries Gazette.
Dickenson For Sheriff 