When Farmington police were alerted to a possible assault that took place on a moving FrontRunner train, one police officer, in particular, received praise for the way he dealt with the issue.
According to News4Utah, a blind man was allegedly assaulted by a woman on the train.
Sgt. Christopher Pope from the Davis County Sheriff’s Office told the news outlet that the police officers talked to the blind man to find out what happened.
“A female had come up to him and said, ‘You’re not going to harm my baby,’ and pushed his head into the wall,” Sgt. Pope said.
According to the news outlet, Farmington police called for help, and Sgt. Pope from the Davis County Sheriff’s Office answered the call.
“It was very apparent immediately that she was some type of psychiatric issue going on at the time,” said Sgt. Pope.
According to the media outlet, the woman struggled with schizophrenia, and instead of charging her with assault, the police officers took her to a hospital in order for her to get treatment. The woman’s baby, however, needed to be brought somewhere safe.
“I immediately noticed the child had a full diaper that had not been changed in a while,” said Sgt. Pope. “The clothing was dirty, and the child also had something wrapped around its neck, [and] it wasn’t quite breathing appropriately at the time.”
However, before they were able to take the two-month-old baby somewhere safe, one of the officers offered assistance with tending to the baby and her full diaper.
“Officer Ballard from Farmington PD came up and said, ‘Hey, her diaper is really full, she’s really going to need her diaper changed,” Sgt. Pope said. “And he just grabbed a diaper and started changing her right there on the platform.”
Once the baby was changed and cleaned, the officers brought the baby back to the station with them.
“The infant was brought here to the center because there was that delay with the DCFS coming in and taking custody of the child,” said Detective Ty Berger. “So our dispatchers got to tend that child for about an hour.”
News4Utah reported that the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) picked up the baby from the police station and was working to reunite her with her family.
Later, the Davis County Sheriff’s Office posted the story on Facebook, praising Officer Ballard for his kind work.
The other day our Deputies responded with UTA Officers and Farmington PD to the Station Park front-runner platform. …
“The other day our Deputies responded with UTA Officers and Farmington PD to the Station Park front-runner platform,” the post read. “Officer’s assisted a mentally challenged female who was having an episode while with her infant. FPD Officer Ballard noticed the infant was soiled not cared for. FPD Officer Ballard took the time to clean up and change the infants soiled diaper. Officer Ballard, you are an inspiration. Thanks for your kindness and compassion.”
Many people since commented on the post, praising the officer for his kindness and compassion. One of the comments read, “Thank you for your compassion and humility Officer Ballard! It’s so nice to hear about the good in our world! We are very blessed you are ours here in Farmington.”
Another user wrote, “Police officers do heroic things every day, some just by doing their jobs to keep us safe. This young man has got to have a caring heart to do this for a distressed mother with a baby. Thanks to all who responded to this situation. I hope the mother was able to get some mental health help that day too.”
One woman, who claimed to be his niece, said, “One time I was lost in Farmington and he came and helped me, even drove behind me so I could find the right place. He’s such a good guy!”
Sgt. Pope said that an incident like this wasn’t as rare as most people thought.
“I have a lot of guys that work for me that they end up buying meals for people, end up buying small items they felt they need,” according to Sgt. Pope. “It’s for whatever that needs to be done—he was going to go ahead and do it, and that included changing a dirty diaper on the side of that platform.”
News4Utah reported that police said Officer Ballard’s story was what they were all striving towards, being able to help others whenever it was needed and with whatever was at hand.
