Shelley police chief remembers late officer

The city of Shelley is still mourning the loss of one of their police officers, Sgt. Kent Swanson, who died after suffering a heart attack while on duty Monday night.

“We didn’t just lose an employee, we all lost a good friend,” said Shelley Police Chief Rod Mohler.

Sgt. Swanson started with the Shelley Police Department in 2001. He is described as someone who was always energetic and loved to work.

“He’s just, just one of those guys that you loved to be around,” Chief Mohler said. “He was something special to everyone he met in whatever way they needed. That’s a rare quality to find.”

Sgt. Swanson’s death is a huge loss for the eight person police department. Shelley police are thankful for all of the calls, emails and flowers from the community.

“He was a very important part of this community,” Chief Mohler said. “He grew up in Shelley, graduated Shelley High School before he moved off to college. So his roots are here and it showed. He treated people like that too.”

Chief Mohler says Sgt. Swanson brought a lot of camaraderie to the team. He lost someone he relied on.

“He was what you needed at the time, no matter who you were,” he said. “Whether it was a complaint, it was a citizen or it was us. He was, that’s probably if I was to coin something for Kent, that would be it. He was everything you needed at the time.”

The viewing service for Sgt. Swanson has changed to the LDS Church located at 2051 S. Emerson in Idaho Falls. That will be on Tuesday from 6:30-8 pm. The funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at noon, also at the same LDS building. The public is invited.