The gunshots that led to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, were fired a year ago, but the echoes are still ringing throughout the nation. Even, to a lesser extent, in Southeast Idaho.

Pocatello Police Chief Scott Marchand said what happened in Ferguson hasn’t had much of an impact on their local protocols. But they have tried to learn from the incident in which white police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot the unarmed black teen. The death led to clashes between protestors and police and an increase in racial tensions throughout the nation.

“We haven’t seen anything like that,” Marchand said, but added that the incident has made many wonder and what could have been done differently in Ferguson.

“I think, hopefully, it’s opened some eyes in regards to community relations,” he said.

Marchand feels his department already has good relations with citizens, but they’re continuing to look for ways to improve them. His officers coach sports, participate in community events and get involved in programs that help those in need. And they’re not alone.

“It’s bigger than just the Pocatello Police Department. Law enforcement in Southeast Idaho appears to be very involved in their communities,” he said.

Still, Southeast Idaho isn’t immune to concerns about law enforcement.

Pocatello Police Detective Steven Westfall, who has been placed on paid administrative leave, is facing an administrative review and a misdemeanor criminal charge of unnecessary assault by a police officer for a July 10 incident. A police squad car videotape shows him raising his elbow and smashing it down on the left side of a suspect’s head while an attempt to search the suspect was underway.

Marchand said Monday that the Ferguson incident had no connection to the handling of Westfall’s case. Many people, including fellow Pocatello police officers, have rallied behind Westfall.

Still, police are certainly under more scrutiny these days. Bingham County Sheriff Craig T. Rowland said when he started in law enforcement nearly 30 years ago, the officers only had a couple of portable radios to share. They used tape recorders, not video cameras.

Earlier this year, he ordered body cameras for all of his patrol officers and detectives. Other agencies are doing the same. Idaho State Police Captain Eric Dayley agrees that there has been a push for more body cameras since the Ferguson incident.

“That’s a major shift. Some people are suggesting (body cameras should be) basic issue police equipment,” said Dayley, who has followed media reports about the devices and done some of his own research.

But the devices that can help capture what happened at a scene aren’t a cure-all. Law enforcement officers have said the cameras only record what’s right in front of them, and storing the recordings can be costly.

In addition, they lead to privacy issues when it comes to what should and shouldn’t be released in public record requests.

Local ISP officers don’t use body cameras, Dayley said, although they have been using cameras in their cars since 1990.

Dayley believes national issues can affect relations between law enforcement officers and citizens, but those relations don’t seem to be as strained here.

“Any national issues can have an impact, but we’re in a pretty nice area,” Dayley said. “For the most part, we have a pretty good relationship (between) law enforcement and citizenry.”

Still, the incidents that gain national attention leave a mark. According to a June Gallup poll, Americans’ confidence in police is the lowest (52 percent) it has been in 22 years. Gallup associates recent incidents involving white police officers apprehending black men in Ferguson; Staten Island, New York; and North Charleston, South Carolina., with the decrease.

“Americans’ confidence in the police was last at 52 percent in 1993, the first time Gallup included police in the list of institutions. That poll was conducted as four white Los Angeles police officers were being tried in federal court for violating Rodney King’s civil rights in the 1991 beating of King,” according to Gallup. 

But even though Americans’ confidence in officers has declined, Gallup points out that it hasn’t been fundamentally shaken.

“Confidence has ranged fairly narrowly between 52 percent and 64 percent since 1993,” according to Gallup.

Rowland hopes community members will remember that officers are doing their best, but they’re just people too.

“I want the public to know that we are people just like they are. ... If we show emotions people think we are badge heavy or grouches,” he said. “We get scared but our job does not allow us to run away, we run to the problem. We put our lives on the line for a small amount of money, we work odd hours in all types of weather. When we see death, especially when it is a child, we want to feel bad, and do, but we have to stay strong. This takes a toll on all of us.”