By Anthony Kuipers
Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho
MOSCOW, Idaho — The lack of a full-time Latah County Jail is straining Moscow Police Department’s staff, according to the MPD chief.
Chief Anthony Dahlinger talked about this and other topics during his annual MPD report before the Moscow City Council on Monday.
The most significant change for law enforcement in 2025 was Latah County’s decision to transition away from its aging jail in October, forcing local law enforcement to transfer arrested people to Nez Perce County Jail in Lewiston.
Dahlinger said this change has required his officers to be on call during their off days. The on-call schedules ensure they can help transport inmates to Lewiston or patrol Moscow’s streets while their colleagues are traveling to and from Nez Perce County Jail . He said officers are working 12-hour shifts.
The number of sworn MPD officers remained at 28 in 2025. However, Dahlinger is hopeful he can hire enough additional officers in 2026 to move away from the on-call schedule and back to 10-hour shifts.
From October to December, Dahlinger said, the MPD spent $17,274 to cover the costs of these transports to Lewiston. It accounts for 15% of its total overtime budget for the operations division. This does not include fuel costs, which Dahlinger is still calculating.
Dahlinger said he does not believe the extra travel time to Lewiston has affected his staff’s decisions to make arrests. Dahlinger said he would rather his department incur the extra costs in order to keep citizens safe.
“We have not backed down on our efforts to make sure that our community is safe,” he said.
The MPD arrested 322 people in 2025, which is a 7% increase over 2024.
When asked about MPD’s relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Dahlinger said ICE is outside his scope of authority. He said his staff does not have the authority to enforce immigration law.
“We’re not in that business,” he said.
If a federal agency needed additional resources to help a tactical situation go as safely as possible, “we’d help anybody in that way,” he said.
Also in his report, Dahlinger said his staff processed 2,386 Freedom of Information Act requests in 2025, which is a 44% increase from 2024. He attributed that largely to the closing of the Bryan Kohberger case when many records of the case were unsealed.
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