BECKLEY, W.Va. — Law enforcement manpower will take a hit July 1 in Nicholas County. The cuts enacted in the 2015-16 fiscal year budget take hold then and about seven deputies will be cut from the county sheriff’s department.
The West Virginia State Police learned of the cuts three months ago and wasted no time filling the gaps. Troopers have been working an adjusted schedule in the county and have already increased their presence and enforcement in the county ahead of the anticipated loss.
“Without getting into the specifics, what we’ve done is combined the resources of the Summersville Detachment and the Richwood Detachment,” said Captain Brad Mankins, Area Commander. “In the past those detachments would work their area. We’ve combined them to where they’re now communicating and responding in both parts of the county.”
There were several reasons the two detachments were separate for many years. The main reason was the difficulty in maintaining radio communication in the rugged terrain. That’s no longer a problem according to Mankins.
“With the topography up there, there would be places in the county where troopers in Summersville were unable to communicate with troopers in Richwood,” he said. “That’s no longer an issue, we’re able to take care of that. Instead of running a detachment based area, we’ve regionalized it.”
The effort so far has received positive reviews. The Nicholas County Commission recently penned a glowing letter which praised the state police work there to Colonel Jay Smithers.
There’s no real increase in crime anticipated according to Mankins, but they want to make sure there is plenty of help respond in an emergency and to back up one another when it’s necessary.
“Safety of our troopers is always a concern,” said Mankins. “The shifts are about the same, it’s just putting people in different places and getting away from the customary hours of 8-4 and 4-midnight. We’ve given the guys a little bit more freedom on what hours to be out to get some extended coverage.”
The troopers will be available anywhere in the county 24/7 according to Mankins.