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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) The following is an editorial issued by Valley City Administrator David Schelkoph.
“No criminal violations or cause for discipline has been found against the Valley City Chief of Police, Fred Thompson, resulting from in an incident on October 3, 2015, in Valley City.
Over the past few weeks there has been a flurry of news articles and statements by the public concerning an incident between the Valley City Chief of Police and a citizen playing with an airsoft gun manufactured to look like an AR-15 assault rifle.
As City Administrator, I would have released this letter sooner had it not been for a complaint that was filed with the Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI). My office was waiting on the findings of the BCI report. We now know that BCI and the States Attorney for Barnes County found no violation of the law and have dropped the complaint against Chief Thompson.
When the Police Chief first reported this incident to the City Attorney and City Administrator, we reviewed the actions taken by Chief Thompson and determined that his actions were within the “Use of Force Policy” currently in use by the Valley City Police Department. It is our belief that the Police Chief took a potentially dangerous situation and created a safe environment for both the public and law enforcement to resolve the issue at hand.
Furthermore, I believe that Chief Thompson used his nearly 40 years of law enforcement experience to make sure no one was harmed. If the airsoft rifle was not a toy but a real AR-15 we would have been praising the Police Chief of his heroism and ability to control a dangerous situation on behalf of public safety. I challenge anyone to test their “judgment” in a similar scenario.
I would trust my family with the judgment of Chief Thompson over anyone I know in law enforcement. Chief Thompson’s training and experience makes Valley City a safer place to live and I applaud his hard work on behalf of the city.”