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ELKINS -- COVID-19 has had an impact within the ranks of the Elkins Police Department, an official said.
EPD Chief Travis Bennett reported regarding his department's January activities to Elkins City Council during their most recent meeting.
"We've been busy the first month of the year," Bennett said. "We've had over 500 calls, so it's gonna be another busy year, it appears.
"COVID has really been hard on us. Since the beginning of the year, we've had between two and four people out the entire time," the chief said. "We're having to really pull together and move people around to keep the shifts covered."
Bennett updated council on training received by new officers.
"Patrolman (Ramon) Goux completed his field training officer program this past week and is going to be released to work on his own as a solo patrol officer," the chief said. "That's a good thing, to get one out of the academy. We still have one at the academy, in about his fourth week, so all is going well down there."
Bennett also talked about several other projects.
"I'm looking at a new report management system," he said. "The one we have know is kind of bulky, out of date and very expensive. The State Police just recently switched theirs to a different system, so I'm looking at theirs.
"The sheriff uses the same system we are, so he's looking at it as well. So maybe we can all switch and be running the same system. It could save us several thousand dollars a year if we do that."
The chief also announced a training class to be offered by the EPD.
"The third of fourth week of March, we'll be hosting and teaching a basic SWAT class here at Elkins PD, so you'll probably be seeing vehicles from a bunch of different outside agencies," Bennett said.
Later in the meeting, Elkins Fire Department Chief Steve Himes also spoke before council.
"We ran 54 calls in January, with five building fires," he said. "One was overcooked food on the stove, one was confined to a chimney. Sixteen vehicle accidents, one requiring extrication.
"COVID has not hit us hard. We had one near-miss where one of the guys lost a day or so, but that all turned out good," Himes noted.