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[email protected] Donnie Blankenship has found contentment in life outside the paddock as a full-time police officer for the Chester Police Department. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi) CHESTER, W.Va. The city has at least one police officer on the roster who is not afraid of a little horsepower. Donnie Blankenship, who has been employed full-time as a patrolman in Chester for two years, came a little late to his law enforcement career compared to some. He always wanted to be a police officer like his grandfather, who served briefly as Hancock County Sheriff, However, he didn’t pursue that dream until several years ago. ....
Staff writer THE RESERVES Hancock County Sheriff’s Lt. J.T. Keeder, left, Brian Peters, chief of the office’s reserve unit; Caleb Minger; Patrick Hoder, sheriff’s Deputy First Class; and Sheriff Scott Gittings pose by one of the reserve unit’s marked cruisers in front of the courthouse. Stephanie Ujhelyi NEW CUMBERLAND Many law enforcement departments look to reserve units for assistance when needed. That has been the case for around 50 years with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office. Thanks to their reserve unit, deputies can concentrate on more pressing issues than traffic matters and working event security. ....
[email protected] West Virginia State Police officer Justin Padurean conducts a consent search of a vehicle last weekend at a downtown Chester gas station. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi) CHESTER, W.Va. The city’s new police chief credits strong partnerships among law enforcement efforts across the Ohio River for keeping city residents safe. During a weekend ride-along, Police Chief Chuck Stanley, one of his full-time patrolman, Tyler Campbell; a Hancock County sheriff’s deputy and West Virginia State Police kept busy on the streets and parking lots in downtown Chester. Stanley called the “manpower” not typical necessarily among most departments. But it did reflect the close relationship with Chester police, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, which is now operated by former colleagues Scott Gittings and Todd Murray; and even the West Virginia State Police, which also had two of their four troopers up from their New Cumberland barracks. ....
Feb 13, 2021 NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. The Hancock County sheriff’s office is declining to identify six subjects arrested as part of a countywide drug sting as the investigation continues. According to Sheriff Scott Gittings, his office, New Cumberland police and the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug Violent Crimes Task Crimes Task Force completed a month-long investigation regarding the trafficking of crystal meth in the New Cumberland area, which led to the execution of multiple search warrants on Commerce Street in New Cumberland. During the warrants, officers seized a substantial amount of suspected crystal meth and a sawed-off shotgun as well as arrested six people for felony offenses of both distribution and possession of crystal meth. Police did not identify those arrested. ....
Craig Howell NEW CUMBERLAND Personnel matters were at the forefront of Thursday’s meeting of the Hancock County Commission, including the addition of new members of the county’s sheriff’s reserves. The commission approved a request from Sheriff Scott Gittings for four new members of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Reserve, with all to be effective Thursday. Those approved were Caleb M. Minger, Zachary M. Tate, Linda M. Miller and John P. Felekey. The appointments follow the commission’s approval, during its Jan. 14 meeting, of Brian Peters as the new chief of the reserve unit. The commission also is advertising for an open position of part-time 911 dispatcher. The post is responsible for receiving emergency and non-emergency calls, applying call-screening protocols and dispatching the appropriate public safety resources. ....