SIDNEY — During 2023, the Sidney Police Department focused on agency restructuring, recruiting and retention of personnel, and mandated in-service training.

Agency restructuring

Chief Mark McDonough was sworn-in as the chief of police on Jan. 23, 2023. He replaced Chief William Balling, who retired after 29-plus years of service with the Sidney Police Department.

McDonough’s report continues:

The agency promoted the following sergeants to the rank of Police Lieutenant: Jeremy Lorenzo, Christopher Burmeister, Kevin Macke and Sean Martin.

Deputy Chief Aaron Rode was selected and sworn-in as the agency’s first deputy police chief. Prior to his selection to deputy chief, he served as a lieutenant with the Lima Police Department.

Notable retirements

The following personnel retired in good standing with our agency during 2023:

Capt. William Shoemaker retired after 25-plus years of service. He was assigned as the operations captain for the department.

Capt. Rob Jameson (Jameson became the Police Department’s public safety superintendent upon his retirement), after 29-plus active years of service with our agency. He now oversees the dispatch, records, and property and evidence sections of the police department.

Officer James Jennings, Officer Valerie Leigeber and K-9 Kilo, retired from the agency in 2023.

2023 Officer of the Year

Officer Matthew Dembski was selected as the agency’s Officer of the Year. There were many notable nominations, with Dembski being selected from among the Nomination Committee.

Recruitment and retention

Like most law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the Sidney Police Department struggled to recruit, select and hire police officers. The law enforcement profession will continue to struggle to attract and retain police officers well into the future.

The agency did many recruitment job fairs, met with students at local police academies and advertised vacancies to attract new candidates for selection and hiring. New innovations were completed (i.e., lateral-entry process to hire police and fire personnel, which was approved by the voters in November, and an update to the National Testing Network, approved recently by the Sidney Civil Service Commission to better score the testing results for increased applicants) in attempts to entice potential recruits and lateral-entry officers to seek employment with the Sidney Police Department.

The Police Department did recommend for selection and hiring the following individuals:

• Grace Ruhenkamp, patrol officer

• Alex Helton, patrol officer

• Trevor Robbins, patrol officer

• Gabriel Shroyer, patrol officer

• Caleb Lammers, patrol officer

• Kelci Wiley, telecommunicator

• Victoria Butterfield, telecommunicator

• Meghan Bell, telecommunicator

2023 training

During 2023, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission required all Ohio law enforcement officers to receive 24-hours of Continuing Professional Training (CPT). Among the 24 hours include 8-hours of mandatory OPOTC-approved topics, with the remaining 16-hours selected by the CEO of the agency. All SPD officers received more than the minimum 24 CPT hours of training.

The agency hosted instructors from Objectively Reasonable to teach their Legally Confident-Tactically Confident course. This one-day class provided new and tenured officers with up-to-date legal and tactical information so officers can perform effectively and efficiently. The instruction included officer safety, investigative detention, traffic stops, reaching into vehicles, hidden weapons, unusual weapons and suspect control. The training was also offered to Ohio law enforcement professionals. Information regarding the Legally Confident-Tactically Confident course can be viewed here: https://www.objectivelyreasonable.com/seminars/legally-confident-tactically-confident/

Notable accomplishments

Sgt. Ethan Brown, Sgt. Robert Hurd and Sgt. Cody Nelson completed the Ohio Law Enforcement Foundation’s Supervisor Training and Education Program (STEP). STEP was designed to develop newly promoted officers, or about to be promoted officers, into highly effective first line supervisors with the competency skills necessary to lead and supervise in a high performance organization. The agency invests in our current leadership for increased levels of responsibility in the future.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Sidney Police Department entered into an agreement to create the Sidney-Shelby Drug Task Force (SSDTF). The Task Force consists of detectives from both agencies focusing on investigating and prosecuting those involved in the illicit drug trade in Sidney and Shelby County.

Ohio Collaborative

The agency also completed 2023 Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board certification training. This was also part of the 2023 OPOTC 24-hours of required training. This training consisted of agency critical-area policy training and testing in the following areas:

• Use of force/use of deadly force

• Agency wellness

• Agency employee recruitment and hiring

• Bias free policing

• Body-worn cameras

• Community engagement

• Investigation of employee misconduct

• Response to mass protests/demonstrations

• Vehicle pursuits

• Telecommunicator training

• Positive youth interactions

• Crisis intervention

The SPD completed all requirements to obtain Provisional Certification in both the Positive Youth Interactions and Crisis Intervention standards from the Ohio Collaborative. More information about the Ohio Collaborative can be viewed here: https://ocjs.ohio.gov/law-enforcement-services/ohio-collaborative-community-police-advisory-board

2024 projections

The police department will continue to focus on recruitment and retention of police employees. We will actively recruit the best officers and civilian staff to ensure we provide the best service to our community.

We will exceed expectations related to OPOTC mandatory and in-service training and adhere to Ohio Collaborative standards.

We will collaborative with local law enforcement partners, community agencies and organizations to address issues of substance abuse (working with our Sidney Addiction Assistance Team member and the SSDTF), mental illness, domestic violence and other issues directly impacting the city of Sidney.

We will continue with the restructuring process to ensure we have personnel in the right positions within the agency. This includes recruitment and hiring strategies, promotions, and other task-specific functions to become a more efficient and effective agency.

We will continue to focus our efforts on community engagement activities to increase transparency in department functions, and positive, working relationships with our community members.