Post Falls honors Officer Nick McDaniel with memorial bench, stone

A photo, a child’s note, a lei and a flower rested beside the memorial stone for Officer Nick McDaniel on 5th Avenue, turning a small stretch of sidewalk into a public place to remember a fallen Post Falls officer.

City leaders unveiled the bench and stone during a Peace Officers Memorial Day ceremony that made McDaniel’s loss visible in the center of town. Acting Police Chief Mark Brantl, Mayor Randy Westlund, chaplain Jon Dekeles and Scott Harmon took part in the dedication, which framed McDaniel’s service as something the city continues to carry, not just something it has marked on a calendar.

Brantl said the memorial gives people a place to remember Nick, and the rain that fell during the ceremony carried an added layer of meaning for those gathered. Brantl linked it to Hawaiian good fortune, a fitting detail for an officer whose path to North Idaho began far from Post Falls.

McDaniel was born Dec. 7, 1986, in Hilo, Hawai’i. He joined the Hawai’i Police Department on Feb. 1, 2011, worked in the Kona Patrol District and later in the Area 2 vice section, then resigned Aug. 26, 2022, before moving his family to Idaho. He joined the Post Falls Police Department on Feb. 21, 2023, bringing more than a decade of law enforcement experience with him.

He died Oct. 22, 2023, at age 36 after missing radio communication while on patrol and helping a citizen unlock a car. Officers found him unresponsive in his patrol vehicle and started CPR immediately. Kootenai County Fire and Rescue transported him to Kootenai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The memorial also reflects the way Post Falls has continued to support McDaniel’s family. His memorial service was held Nov. 4, 2023, at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls with full police honors, and the Post Falls Fraternal Order of Police Foundation raised funds to help his family after his death. The foundation was established in 2023 as a separate charitable arm and received 501(c)(3) status.

That larger effort gives the memorial bench and stone more weight than a ceremonial marker alone. In a city that observes Peace Officers Memorial Day under the tradition set by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, the site on 5th Avenue now stands as a permanent reminder of how Post Falls defines service, sacrifice and the families left behind.