Sheriff to ‘clowns’: Police resources are not infinite

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Sheriff Steve Kessler doesn’t find the “Creepy Clown” phenomenon amusing.

“Wearing a clown mask?” he said during a phone interview with MetroNews, Friday. “That’s for Halloween. That’s about it, you know?”

In fact, he’s worried that it won’t take long for one of these situations to turn tragic.

“I think they are taking a chance of dealing with someone that they scare, and they don’t realize what’s going to happen,” he said. “Even if you look at some of the posts people put on [social media], say ‘If you jump out at me, I’m going to run over you.’ Well that’s great–something else we’ll have to be dealing with.”

The “Creepy Clown” sightings have swept through the southern United States in the past few months–mainly over the summer. People began reporting the sightings–and the actions–of these clowns to local police departments in Alabama and Georgia. Many claimed that the clowns were standing along the edges of wooded areas during dark and trying to lure children into the woods.

“I think it’s in poor taste–people doing that,” Kessler said. “It scares people. With crime the way it is, people get a little bit panicked. There may not be any bad intention by the person who is the clown, but you don’t know how the person is going to react to it.”

Yet, in every investigation, police have generally come up empty handed. Two people were arrested over the summer for falsely reporting.

For Kessler, that’s just as bad. Either he’s dealing with a rash of people attempting to do harm to others or he’s dealing with a widespread practical joke that could just as easily drain police resources.

“Already have a plate full to start with,” Kessler said. “When people call in these complaints, you can’t ignore them. Somebody calls complaining or they come into your office to talk to you about being done this way, you are going to have to stop and pay attention to what they are saying.”

It’s of particular concern in a place like Fayette County–where the Sheriff’s Department continues to cover additional territory due to fewer and fewer local police departments.

Kessler also said this isn’t just about the fact that many people have a serious phobia of clowns. In the one confirmed photo the Sheriff’s Department saw, the person dressed as a clown was holding an unknown instrument in his hand.

“I’m not sure what it is they have in their hand,” he said. “We can’t really tell. That’s the problem right there. Somebody may not recognize that it’s not really anything threatening, but think it is.”

Whatever the intentions are, Kessler said it must stop.

“It may not be any intention on the person that’s doing the clown other than just to play a prank,” he said. “But, today? I don’t think I’d want to do that.”

In addition to Fayette County, there was one sighting of a “creepy clown” in Mercer County and complaints in Monongalia County.





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