SIDNEY — Sidney Police Chief William Balling has issued a statement concerning a Facebook post about an alleged assault which took place in the city.
“On Aug. 3 there was a Facebook post that was put out concerning how the Sidney Police Department handled a call,” said Balling in the statement. “The Sidney Police Department handles over 28,000 contacts with citizens every year. While we try to do our best on everyone one of them I am sure that we could do better on some and there are times that no matter what we do someone will not be happy with the results.
“The current issue that I am referring to is an incident in which we are investigating an assault on an individual. The responding officer took the initial report. While taking the report the officer advised the reporting person that he would be at training for the next week, but would follow up until he left and as soon as he returned. The victim advised that he was okay with this. The victim then contacted me a few days later and we spoke about the incident. I confirmed that the officer was at training for a week and I asked him if he wanted someone else to follow up. He advised no that he was fine with waiting until the officer returned. I advised him to contact the officer’s Supervisor anyway and if he wanted we could follow up prior to the officer returned. He advised that he knew the supervisor, liked him and would call him. The victim then called the supervisor, they spoke about the incident and the victim again advised that he was fine with waiting for the original officer.
“On the victim’s Facebook post he made it seem like we did nothing. We took the original call and the officer contacted the business that owned the car to determine who had it at the time of the incident prior to leaving for training. The victim advised on a recorded line that he was okay with waiting until the officer returned. The victim then apparently changed his mind, but did not notify us.
“The victim’s Facebook post does not appear to reflect all the conversations that we had with him. For us to do our job we do need to work with the victims and the victims need to work with us. I feel it was important that the full conversations be told. We are investigating it and will do our best to find out what happen and take the appropriate actions.
“Our officers work hard and do the best that they can in very difficult situations. Their job is not easy and I am proud of them.” Balling said in concluding his statement.
