An Athens Police Department officer accused of making insensitive remarks regarding the Uptown public sex act on Homecoming Weekend was confronted by his superiors after a verbal complaint was made against him by an Ohio University student.
But the complainant, Emily Harper, said she isn’t completely satisfied with the actions taken against Officer Neal Dicken.
The incident occurred at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 22, when Harper says Dicken told her and two others they were “tearing the town apart” by placing sticky notes at Chase bank, 2 S. Court St., the scene of the public sex act that received national attention after the woman involved filed a rape complaint with APD.
“It wasn’t as if I wanted Officer Dicken to lose his badge or anything, but these comments were inappropriate,” said Harper, a fifth-year senior studying international business and marketing. “I don’t necessarily know that the problem has been rectified. I don’t know that he will necessarily change his behavior because it was an informal complaint.”
Dicken told the students that they were vandalizing private property, Harper said.
Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle confirmed the department spoke to Dicken regarding the complaint, but wouldn’t go into details.
Harper said she believes a sensitivity training course for APD officers would help improve relations with students, as well as work toward preventing similar problems in the future.
No charges were pressed against the man involved in the public sex act after a grand jury later determined there was not probable cause in the case.
“When someone files a sexual assault claim, I don’t think it’s a police officer’s right not to believe them,” Harper said. “Unless you find other proof that says the person is lying, you have to investigate it as a sexual assault. You shouldn’t investigate it just because it’s getting national attention and that’s what people want.”
as299810@ohiou.edu
@akarl_smith
This article appeared in print under the headline "APD action not enough for complainant."
