NAMPA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A thin blue line flag flapped gently in the breeze blowing on Idaho Center Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon.
It welcomed a procession of dozens of law enforcement and first responder vehicles that wended their way from Eagle to Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center for the memorial service for fallen Ada County deputy Tobin Bolter.
Hundreds of members of the public and law enforcement officers from around the region gathered outside of the arena to witness the arrival of Bolter’s hearse and coffin. The honor guard, a mix of law enforcement professionals from various agencies, lined either side of the path of the hearse to one of the center’s entrances.
People observed Bolter’s arrival in silence. Children clutched small American flags. Dozens of vehicles, some from as far as the California Bay Area, drove into the parking lot at the center, hundreds of red, white, and blue lights flickering. The Boise Police Department announced that it would expand its jurisdiction to include parts of Ada County under the sheriff’s office’s jurisdiction during the service, allowing Ada County deputies and personnel to attend, KTVB reported.
Bolter was shot in the neck on April 20 during a traffic stop in Boise, as previously reported by the Associated Press. A witness to the incident called 911 and performed CPR, but Bolter later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Another Ada County deputy, Dallas Denney, suffered injuries on her way to the scene when she was involved in a crash; she and another person injured in the crash received treatment at a local hospital.
On Tuesday, family, friends and law enforcement observed the funeral from inside the center, while the public was invited to watch the livestream — also broadcast on the Ada County Sheriff's Office YouTube page — from the Ford Idaho Center's outdoor amphitheater.
Ahead of the service, a stream of photos played on the livestream screen — Bolter as a child backpacking with his father. With Abbey, his dear friend who would later become his girlfriend, then wife, posing in fancy clothes ahead of school dances. Bolter in uniform, standing with Abbey in front of a police vehicle. Him on the phone, the couple’s dog asleep in his lap.
Ben Blakely, one of Bolter’s pastors, said it “has been quite some time since we’ve had a service quite like this in our community,” and that an officer's death can bring feelings of shock “because his death confronts every one of us with the presence of darkness and evil in the world, and we know that is a reality that our law enforcement officers are confronted with on a daily basis.”
Abbey Bolter, flanked by Bolter’s parents and her parents, greeted the crowd by thanking everyone for coming, her voice quavering.
“Since Tobin went home to be with the Lord, I am mostly grieving the loss of my best friend,” Abbey said. The couple met in middle school but did not start dating until Bolter asked Abbey’s father’s permission during their senior year of high school. They would have celebrated six years of marriage in June, she said, and she is expecting their first child.
Abbey said the community's support has been overwhelming.
“I’m truly speechless at the generosity of so many individuals. I have seen God’s grace and mercy shown through all of you,” she said.
Bolter grew up in Walnut Creek, California, and he first trained in high school as a cadet with that city’s police department. Brian Hill, retired chief of police for the Pleasant Hill Police Department, described working for the Walnut Creek Police Department and knowing 16-year-old Bolter as someone eager to volunteer to act in incident scenarios training.
“He did everything. He was the hostage, the hostage taker. He was an angry dad, he was a frightened mom,” Hill said, to light laughter from the audience. “He even played the dangerous, barricaded parolee, although I gotta tell you, with that classic, boy-next-door face of his and that infectious smile, he didn’t really pull that one off very well.”
Just a few short years later, at the age of 20, Bolter applied to work as a police officer for the Pleasant Hill Police Department, where Hill had since begun work. Though the department does not typically hire people that young, they hired Bolter, Hill said.
“Tobin was the youngest officer I ever hired, but I was doing so with great confidence because I knew he was driven. I knew he was mature. And most importantly, I knew he had integrity beyond reproach ... and I knew his sincere faith would guide him and his decisions,” Hill said. Bolter felt called to be in law enforcement, he said.
Police cars from Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill, California, participated in the procession. Flags representing where Bolter served were placed by the color guard ahead of the service — the U.S. flag, as well as Idaho, California, Ada County, city of Meridian, Walnut Creek, and Pleasant Hill.
Though Bolter had only worked for the Ada County Sheriff’s Office since January, he had already made an impact on his colleagues and the community, Ada County Sheriff Matt Clifford said. One of those community members was a witness to a crime that Bolter investigated, Clifford said.
“He went out of his way to tell me that Tobin not only cared about the issue, but that he was sweet to his kids and made them all feel like it was going to be OK,” Clifford said.
Clifford also thanked the people who have reached out to the department following the loss of Bolter.
“This overwhelming outpouring reflects the true spirit of our community — a community united in pursuit of safety and a better place for our children,” Clifford said.
One law enforcement tradition is radioing the deceased one final time to honor them.
“Radio to S47,” the voice said. “Radio to Sheriff 47. Unit 47 is not responding,” the woman said. Bolter was “a devoted man of God, husband, and friend who served his community fearlessly for the last seven years.”
“Deputy Bolter, thank you for your dedicated service. We have the watch from here.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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