Wilkinson takes over as police chief

Sidney's new police chief is here and ready to get to work.

Byron R. "B.J." Wilkinson was sworn in yesterday morning by District Judge Derek Weimer in Cheyenne County district court.

"I feel wonderful," Wilkinson said. "The community is very welcoming and friendly."

Before the swearing in, Weimer took a few moments to speak to Wilkinson about his choice to devote himself to service.

"As we make decisions in our lives about what we want to do going forward in the community, we are often faced with opportunities both to serve ourselves and to serve others," Weimer said. "Anyone who goes into public service isn't doing it for the money. They're doing it to because they choose to serve their community, they choose to serve their constituents, they choose to serve other people."

Wilkinson worked as the city of Litchfield, Illinois' Chief of Police from 2002, until deciding to come to Sidney this summer. Before that, he served in law enforcement in the Mills police department in Narona County, Wyoming. While there, he worked his way up through the ranks from Corporal to Captain. Wilkinson has a busy and varied background. He stepped in as an interim city administrator for seven months in Litchfield and was an adjunct professor at Lincoln Land Community College, where he taught law enforcement administration and criminal justice studies.

Litchfield is around the same size as Sidney, so Wilkinson is familiar with working in a small town. The most pressing concerns of small town citizens are fairly simple on the surface, Wilkinson said.

"When you strip everything else away, they want to feel safe," Wilkinson said. "Our job is to make people feel safe."

There are many pieces and parts that fit into that sense of safety, but a feeling of security in the community is the ultimate goal, Wilkinson said.

Weimer welcomed Wilkinson to Sidney.

"Today's a good day," Weimer said. "It's an exciting moment. Today is a positive step in our community. We've invited you to come here, and you've graciously accepted that invitation and it is certainly my hope, and I suspect the hope of everyone else here, that you are here for many years to come and that we have positive and long lasting working relationship here."

The quality of life in Sidney is already high, Wilkinson added. So his force will first attempt to keep the standard of living at that level and then try to make it even better.

Weimer reminded Wilkinson that not all his days in Sidney will be easy.

"It is absolutely, undoubtedly true that there will be bad days in your job, absolutely, undoubtedly true," Weimer said. "And when those bad days come, my encouragement to you, is to remember why it is you're here, and to remember why it is that you have chosen to serve others."

Wilkinson's past also includes additional community service involvement including various committees and organizations. He worked as the chairman of the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council, an organization which provides training in domestic violence and sexual assault investigations and developed protocol for such investigations state-wide. He's coached various youth sports teams and has been involved in many church organizations.

Weimer's closing remarks before the swearing-in were positive.

"So I will say that I'm grateful you're here," Weimer said. "I'm thankful that you've accepted this invitation and I'm excited to watch as you take over as our chief of police and take the department in a direction as you see fit."

As of yesterday, Wilkinson began overseeing the 14 officers and two civilian employees in the Sidney Police Department. The department's yearly operating budget is $1 million.

The new chief doesn't have plans to make any changes to the inner workings of the department at this point. Wilkinson will spend his first 90 days in Sidney learning what the community wants and listening to the needs of the city's people.

"We'll have to decide where we want to go and where we want to be," Wilkinson said.