Panhandle Faces Trooper Shortage
By GABE WELLSWHEELING - The statewide need for West Virginia State Police troopers is most serious in the Northern Panhandle, according to the Wheeling Detachment's top officer.
The recent results of a legislative survey indicate a majority of State Police troopers believe there are not enough officers in the field throughout the Mountain State. Sgt. Scott Adams is one who believes there is a serious trooper shortage - and he said a remedy for the problem should first be sought in this area.
Adams is the supervisor at the Wheeling Detachment, where there are only three other troopers. He's in charge of scheduling, and the shortage of officers makes it difficult for him to keep all the shifts covered. Adams said a trooper's most important job is investigating crimes, so the lack of manpower is noticed most on Northern Panhandle roads.
"That's where it hurts," Adams said. "We are not on the road. Investigation takes priority over writing a ticket. It's worse here (in the Northern Panhandle) than anywhere in the state."
The largest staff locally is at the Moundsville Detachment, where there are seven troopers. Adams said with four troopers including himself, the manpower situation at the Wheeling Detachment is bad. However, it may be even worse elsewhere. There are only three troopers at each detachment in New Cumberland, Paden City and Hundred. There are only two troopers serving at the detachment in Wellsburg.
"Manpower is a huge issue," Adams said. "We don't have enough troopers - period. It's a legislative issue. Our legislators need to ask why."
West Virginia Sen. Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, on Wednesday said he was not aware of a staffing concern within the ranks of the West Virginia State Police. He said he hoped to find out whether the problem involved retiring troopers not being replaced or not enough new troopers joining the ranks. He said it is the duty of the Legislature to fix the problem if it does exist.
"It seems to me we have been filling the State Police academy classes," Kessler said. "Obviously, it's something we have to take a look at. One of the primary roles of government is to provide for the public safety. If there isn't adequate personnel to maintain the public safety, that is something we will need to address through increasing the number of classes or retaining the troopers. So, there may be a need to look at salary and pay structure."
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UNCOMMONSENSE
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11-21-08 9:28 AM
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Federal grants ALL have strings attached. And if you cannot show that you are making a sufficient effort, you WILL NOT receive future grants. So this all comes down to money. As usual. Just as when you take money from the mafia, you need to assume there will be strings attached, Federal grants to law enforcement also come with strings that require numbers to prove you are worthy of the grant money and that you are enforcing what the grant was supplied to address. Law enforcement officers are simply doing what they are told to do. It is however the "conditions" that these law enforcement grants require be fulfilled that are at issue here.
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theRev
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11-20-08 8:56 PM
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the WV state troopers should be more of an invetigative unit then an enforcement unit. much like the FBI, they both have no REAL jurisdiction. i judt do not think more is really needed. what will they do stop more people for speeding. speeding is not a problem dumb drivers are.
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LittlePeople
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11-20-08 5:29 PM
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The solution sounds simple enough. Transfer 4 of the Moundsville/Wheeling troopers to the EP. Money isn't an issue. Since Manchin has been in office, they've received some of the largest pay increases of any state employees in the state.
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robojock
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11-20-08 2:50 PM
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Coming from a former cop, nobody wants the job, and it is 30% money and 70% idiocy. Too much politics, and idiocy, as well as unethical behavior, causes cops to quite. I have had 5 cops, that are friends of mine, throughout the state, quit in the last year, and only one time, was money the cause. Finaly, it is hard to protect yourself on the streets, when people attack you in your own dept.
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TruthSeeker
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11-20-08 2:03 PM
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Got ahold of that WV trooper survey and in answer to the question "Does the WVSP Require Each Trooper to Issue a Specific Number of Traffic Citations or Warning Citations On a Monthly Basis?" 23 percent of all troopers said yes they had quotas, while 81 percent said no they didn't have quotas. Seems most of the troopers answering yes to both quotas and disciplinary actions against them for not making enough "contacts" were from the counties of Wood, Wirt, and Pleasants. If this is the case that issuing citations is the focus of our troopers, then something is severely broken in our system.
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thedub
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11-20-08 1:11 PM
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@TruthSeeker - It's out there. It was on FARK dot com the other day. Although this comment will probably get deleted. The quota was supposedly for speeding tickets and traffic violations.
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richardwhee
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11-20-08 12:49 PM
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Appears to me that the troopers are at times in the wrong places. What I mean is; The state should patrol interstates mostly. Sheriff deputies county roads, city police city streets etc. Driving from 1st st to Warwood I sometimes see all three sitting along the road. Too few! thats questionable.
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TruthSeeker
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11-20-08 12:26 PM
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Quotas? How can you have quotas for law enforcement? That's simply unethical. So Sgt. Adams tells his troopers that they have to go arrest at least 4 speeders, 2 domestic violence offenders, 2 sex offenders, and 1 arsonist per shift? I'll have to see this in writing with an official signature or on a tv news program with credible witnesses to believe it. You don't make arrests or give out citations to people not breaking the law simply because you're supposed to arrest so many per day or give out "x" number of tickets. If your statement is true, I challenge the local media to get the story out to the public. The ACLU would be salivating at the chance to take this on.
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UNCOMMONSENSE
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11-20-08 12:06 PM
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First of all, NOBODY wants to be a member of the West Virginia state police in this area. They can go to neighboring Ohio or Pennsylvania and make ALOT more money. Considering this area is literally CRAWLING with local law enforcement and county sheriff units, the amount of State police in the area is PLENTY for the area. Let's keep in mind that this comes on the heels of the State police getting accused of not meeting their citation quotas. YES the OHP and the WV state police DO have quotas.
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NancySI
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11-20-08 10:34 AM
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Adequately funding law enforcement, EMS, FIRE and RESCUE seems only to be a priority for folks and politicians when an emergency happens. Then it is always the blame game. Emergency workers are worth much more than they are paid, deal with amounts of stress most of us have no clue about, and typically donate to the community so much more than those with the means to do so. There are so many internal needs that have evolved over the last 8 years, lets hope DC puts Emergency Services on the top of the priority come January. PS..State Troopers arent too rare on I70E. They find me doing 78mph. I was still late to work but was pleasantly scolded only.
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mymomscool
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11-20-08 9:35 AM
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and so why did the state police allow one of the wheeling detachment's officers to transfer out temporarily?
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acousticportal
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11-20-08 9:04 AM
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So, there's 11 troopers between Moundsville and Wheeling..how many are needed?
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TruthSeeker
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11-20-08 9:03 AM
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So why is this news now? Why did Adams wait to speak out until there was a shortage?
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