Police Chief steps down citing family health issues

Just short of his second anniversary as Sidney Police Chief, David M. “Mike” Brown has submitted his resignation to Sidney City Council.

He stood before the governing body to offer his official notice of leave at the Tuesday city council meeting, citing family health issues.

“Family members of both me and my wife have some long-term health issues and it’s just something that had to be done.”

With both families out of the state of Nebraska, Chief Brown said family, “just comes first for me and my family. Once a year to see ailing family members just isn’t enough. Family trumps professional.”

Brown, who came to Sidney in 2011 from Coffeyville, Kan., will leave the post at the end of the month, but will remain in Sidney in the short-term.

Brown came to Sidney following a 16-month process by city officials to fill the post. Brown began his duties on March 21, 2011.

Chief Brown speaks very highly the officers of the department and city officials.

“The officers of the department are some of the best people I have ever worked with. We as a team were able to make great strides in the department collecting and using data. In addition, we took on the tough task of revising the duty and policy manual for the department. It is a living document and is constantly undergoing change.

“Sidney is a wonderful place with great people.”

“Chief Mike Brown provided outstanding leadership at the Sidney Police Department and I have heard overwhelming acceptance towards him from the general public since his hiring,” said Sidney City Manager Gary Person.

“There are some things in life you certainly cannot control such as health issues with close family members.  

“He and his family will be returning to the Kansas area to be with those family members and we wish them the very best.  

“It speaks volumes about his character when you place family’s importance above all else,” Person said.

“I appreciate and respect everything about the man.  We have very solid command officers in the Sidney Police Department and I know the day-to-day operations will be just fine until we can hire a new chief.”

When Brown was hired as Sidney Police Chief there had been an extensive hiring process to bring in the best candidate. Two years ago, Person said the field had been extremely competitive when Brown was named to the post.

“The last time we went through this process, it was very challenging and lengthy because we ran into an unexpected budget shortfall  due to state incentive refunds that wiped out a lot of our local sales tax revenue, so we were not in a position to replace the position right away as we had to endure numerous mid-year budget cuts.  

“Regardless, the state law is very specific on the hiring process that must be followed, and it is rather time consuming.  In the end you want to ‘get it right’, so whatever it takes, we will go forward with the process and try to hire the best possible candidate to lead the department into the future.”

A interim replacement will be named to head the department while the search and hiring processes are completed.