When former City Council Woman Melissa Matheny joined Wives Behind the Badge, she was serious about bringing the organization - comprised of spouses of law enforcement officers - to North Central West Virginia. 

 

As of today, Matheny - wife of Stonewood Police Chief Robert Chief Matheny - and Barb Hartley - wife of Bridgeport Assistant Police Chief Randy Hartley - are the only registered members of the national organization, which has a West Virginia auxiliary. 

 

Matheny said she had, for several weeks, been tossing around the idea of a hosting a meet and greet, inviting wives of police officers so they could get to know each other and learn about Wives Behind the Badge. 

 

"But I wanted to incorporate that with something else - not just a meet and greet - because I knew not many would show up," Matheny said. "So I put it on the back burner and waited for the right opportunity to come up.  

 

And it did. 

 

Through her friend Nancy Stinard, wine party hostess, Matheny held a wine tasting/meet and greet event Sunday night.  

 

"I started out inviting just a couple of girls that I knew were married to police officers and they invited people and they invited people - and it just kind of exploded," she said. 

 

At the get-together, 22 women introduced themselves, sharing their names, along with the names of their husbands or boyfriends and the location of law enforcement agencies. 

"We had several from Bridgeport, Clarksburg, the Harrison County Sheriff's Department, the FBI Police, Department of Natural Resources, Stonewood and the West Virginia State Troopers so we covered a lot of different departments," Matheny said.

 

Thereafter, Matheny and Hartley provided a brief description of Wives Behind the Badge - what the organization is and what it does. 

 

"Part of our mission is to be a positive voice for law enforcement within our community. The other part is supporting law enforcement families in the event of an injury or death or something like that," Matheny said. " The West Virginia chapter has historically been great at holding events which benefit another organization, charity or non-profit - and that's wonderful. That fulfills part of our mission statement. But the part I feel has been overlooked for so long is that support system - pouring back into the ladies who have joined the organization." 

 

As state auxiliary chapter board of directors member and state events coordinator, Matheny has been brainstorming and talking with her director about how to make that happen. There are tentative plans for her to spearhead regular events for Wives Behind the Badge members, couples and families; helping law enforcement families network and form relationships. 

 

That's important to everyone, Matheny said. 

 

"No one understands what it's like to be married to a police officer unless you are married to a police officer," she said. "There's a bond that you share that you don't share with anybody else. To be able to meet with and have a network of support if you're having a bad day or your child gets sick and your husband is on shift and you're stretched and can't make everything happen, you have a network of supporters to call on," she said. "And it's important for kids growing up knowing other kids who have police officers as parents. Sometimes they are held to completely different standards and it's difficult to be in the limelight. They are looked at as an example and that's a lot of pressure for kids. It's important to  have a community of kids who know each other and are able to call each other if they are in need of support." 

 

Of the 22 woman attending Sunday night's meet and greet, 16 asked for applications to join Wives Behind the Badge. 

 

"I was just blown away," Matheny said. 

 

As the West Virginia chapter of the organization grows, she has a number of ideas to implement. 

 

"We just need enough help," she said. "If we do these things, we're going to do them right." 

 

Potential events may involve National Thank a Police Officer Day (Sept. 19) and a bone marrow drive. 

 

For more information on Wives Behind the Badge, visit www.wivesbehindthebadge.org or the West Virginia Auxiliary Wives Behind the Badge Facebook page. Contact Matheny at events.wv@wivesbehindthebadge.org. 

 

Editor's Note: Pictured top are attendees of the recent meet and greet held to educate local wives of law enforcement agencies about Wives Behind the Badge. Also pictured are Barb Hartley and Melissa Matheny with the wreath Hartley made. The wreath was given away as a door prize.