CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston Police Chief of Detectives Lt. Steve Cooper says an increase in the city’s user fee will help pay for additional officers and a station at Slack Plaza.
Mayor Danny Jones proposed Monday raising the user fee from $2.50 to $3 by 2018 before the scheduled change in 2020. The last increase was in 2015.
Cooper told Jones on his talk show “580 Live” heard on MetroNews affiliate 580-WCHS Tuesday the additional money would go toward a new station for K-9 and walking units.
“You’ll have K-9 officers, officers that are on foot and officers that are on bicycles, so their eyes and ears are going be open just like any other citizen in that area. They’re not going to be driving by in a police car,” Cooper said.
The need for increased police presence is due a spike in crime this summer from Charleston’s homeless community. City leaders are identifying it as “transient crime.” Cooper said people from out-of-state come to Charleston to take advantage of free services, then commit property crimes.
“What comes up with these guys is they talk about how well fed they are here in Charleston,” Cooper said.
In the last several weeks, police have arrested nearly two dozen transients in Charleston. The most high-profile case happened last month when a California man allegedly killed a woman by setting her on fire.
Sara Busse works with the homeless at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on the city’s East End. Volunteers host “Trinity’s Table” every Sunday to provide 100-400 free meals. Busse said the out-of-state visitors typically say they came to Charleston because they knew someone, not because of the free services they can get.
“They’re not telling us that they’re coming here because we feed them. They come here because they have a relative here, they heard someone else who lives here,” she said.
The problem is tied to the drug epidemic, Cooper said. He told Jones he’s talked to business owners near Slack Plaza where he wants to build the new station.
“What they’re seeing is lewd conduct, alcohol consumption and some hand-to-hand drug deals,” he said.
Busse admits there is real issue in downtown Charleston. She said her friends who work at businesses there are “struggling” with “the aggressive behavior” from people.
Getting more cops to patrol the area would be a good thing, she said.
“Our police officers are so stretched and limited. They work so hard,” Busse said. “There aren’t enough of them.”
Other cities have similar issues, though, Busse said. While she doesn’t believe any services should be cut, Busse said it’s important to find solutions.
“We don’t just need shouting about how bad these folks are,” she said. “The drugs and the jobs are the issues that we have to deal with to get to the center of the problem.”