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ELKINS -- The chief of the Elkins Police Department outlined for Elkins City Council ways that Randolph County's newly announced federal designation will be beneficial to the city.
Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced last week the designation of Randolph County as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), a move that will deploy additional federal resources to the county and help support the coordination and development of drug control efforts among federal, state and local law enforcement officials.
"While I hate that we have that (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) designation -- because it tells us what we've got here, but we've been saying it for a long time -- that designation means a whole lot to us and will go a long way in our efforts to combat it by giving us more funding to work on those type of cases," EPD Chief Travis Bennett told Elkins City Council members at their most recent meeting. "By giving us more access to more resources, even down to the DEA placing an agent in Elkins.
"So, I'm very glad to see that happen. This is something that we've been working on for about five years now, to get that designation," Bennett said. "So, I'm glad to see it finally came through."
Officials said the designation will result in the federal Drug Enforcement Agency placing a full-time DEA agent in Randolph County, and in the county having a federal prosecuting attorney in Elkins.
Also during the meeting, Bennett said the EPD will be assisting with a major event scheduled for next week in Upshur County.
"The 17th through the 21st of July is the World Association of Marching Show Bands event in Buckhannon," Bennett said. "We'll be assisting the Buckhannon Police Department with that the entire week by sending officers over.
"That event will impact our city as well. With the numbers that are expected to attend, I think the last that I heard was between 50,000 and 70,000 people. It's going to fill all of our hotels, Buckhannon, Weston, Clarksburg, everybody. So we'll see a huge influx of people in town throughout that week, which will make everything busier, including traffic. So we're ready for that."
Bennett also updated the City Council members about the EPD's activities during the previous month.
"In June, the Elkins Police Department responded to 548 calls for service that generated 27 cases, resulting in 21 arrests and three criminal citations issued," the chief said.
"The last week of June, we hosted a First Line Leadership Training Course. We had everybody from the rank of corporal on up from our department attend that, as well as some deputies from Tucker County," he said.
Bennett added that the EPD is close to hiring several new officers.
"Our hiring process is down to two applicants for three positions, and we're currently in the background phase for that now," he said.