Despite seeing several law enforcement officer, including multiple veterans, leave the Bridgeport Police Department during 2018, Chief John Walker reported his staff was able to meet the obligations to protect and serve the community.

 

The personnel issue was among several items discussed by Walker last Monday in front of Bridgeport City Council. Walker was presenting his department head report, which is done annually in front of the city’s governing body.

 

“We lost a lot of officers and a lot of those officers were long-serving members of the department,” said Walker.

 

Along with seeing Lt. Mike Lemley depart with more than 20-plus years of service, Walker had to navigate around three of his four detectives also leaving during the calendar year. A total of six officers left the staff with one of them coming back.

 

“Due to personnel loss and lack of manpower, we added 143 overtime shifts and 35 supervisor overtime shifts,” said Walker.

 

The good news is that Walker expects the staff to be back to full force during this calendar year. A key will be getting two officers into the upcoming West Virginia State Police Academy for training as other positions have been filled.

 

While personnel was a big issue, it wasn’t the only issue. Here are some of the highlights of Walker’s report.

 

On the grant front, the department was successful once again. The Bridgeport Police Department had eight successful grant applications totaling $80,877.37.

 

Despite taking a hit in the detective department, the group still managed to handle 105 investigations among other tasks. Currently 20 of those cases remain open and 33 cases were closed due to lack of evidence. The rest, 52 cases, were closed by way of arrest or administratively.

 

Walker pointed out there were several cases of note. Among those was a local residential theft case over more than $130,000 in property and items, a child pornography case with more than 60,000 images discovered that was prosecuted on the federal level, and an armed robbery of a city hotel.

 

The status of the Mountaineer Highway Interdiction Team (MHIT) South that was formed in 2014 was also reported. Walker said the unit, which was created to help stem the flow of drugs into the city along the main roadways and other areas, conducted 550 traffic stops, made 30 felony arrests, 85 misdemeanor arrests and apprehended four fugitives. Drugs (including marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine), guns, cash, a stolen car and a stolen license plate were also seized by the unit.

 

Bridgeport’s involvement with the Greater Harrison County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force was discussed. This past year, the agency that Bridgeport is part of made 139 arrests, seized 60 firearms, and 38 pounds of crystal meth. The group also recovered 1.2 pounds of heroin and 13.48 pounds of marijuana. Other drugs were also recovered by the group with a total cash value of $539,756.65.

 

The city’s two K-9 units were also effective. Max and Barley were called out 96 times and 37 arrests were made as a result. Drugs found included meth, heroin, marijuana, and more totaling $8,856, while also recovering counterfeit money and firearms.

 

While those were the difficult items, Walker also talked about the ongoing success of several community programs. The department again had a successful National Night Out and took part in Family Day, Light Up Night and other city events. Thanks to Freedom Kia, Bridgeport Police randomly handed out $100 bills to individuals prior to Christmas to build good will in the community.

 

Other areas discussed included the ongoing success of the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), drug education and prevention outreach, and breakdowns on arrests. While numbers were down in several areas, the department still received 8,776 calls for service in 2018.

 

As for the coming year, Walker said one key is to look at installing License Plate Readers (LPR) at locations throughout Bridgeport. The LPRs read the plates, and then alert officers of potential wanted suspects, stolen vehicles or other issues needing the attention of law enforcement.

 

Walker told Council the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department has installed the unit at the stoplights on U.S. Route 50 at the overpass on Interstate 79 with great success. The units, however, that are mounted and go in four directions could cost up to $150,000. Units placed on squad cars, which wouldn’t be as effective, go for $22,000.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows various members of the Bridgeport Police Department in front of the Bridgeport Municipal Complex. Second photo shows U.S. Attorney William Powell addressing the media following a successful drug operation involving the Harrison County Drug Task Force. Bottom photo shows Officer Bart Sayers shaking hands with a motorist who was randomly pulled over and given $100 as a Christmas giveaway. Bottom photo by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.