Tag: Charleston Police

Charleston Police Announce Plan to Improve Race Relations

Charleston police have announced a plan to improve community relations, particularly with black residents.

Local activists joined police at a news conference Tuesday to announce the city’s goal of making Charleston a national leader in race relations, community policing, and youth engagement.

Police say they plan to begin using body cameras within weeks and will publish monthly arrest statistics that include race, age, gender and cause of arrest in order to increase transparency.

Officers will also meet regularly with a diverse advisory council that will consist of young people ages 18-25.

Chief Brent Webster says he wants his department to “remain ahead of the curve” at a time activists across the nation have criticized numerous fatal shootings of black men by white police officers.

Authorities Search Water Agency Building for Wiretaps

Charleston police have conducted a search for wiretaps at the West Virginia Water Development Authority building amid allegations of ethics violations.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that police did not find any hidden listening devices during last week’s wiretap sweep.

Water Development Authority Executive Director Chris Jarrett says he asked detectives to search the offices for wiretaps to check for unauthorized electronics.

The sweep comes after a dispute between the agency’s geographic information system manager Michael Duminiak and two agency employees including Jarrett and Water Development Authority Executive Assistant Carol Cummings.

Duminiak had filed complaints with the state’s ethics commission, accusing Jarrett and Cummings of various ethics violations.

According to emails obtained by the newspaper, Duminiak says Cummings accused him of hacking employees’ computers and tampering with the security system. Duminiak also accuses Cummings of secretly recording conversations on her smartphone.

Three Law Enforcement Agencies Get Cash Forfeited in Pill Case

Law enforcement agencies have received more than $1 million in forfeited cash for their participation in an investigation of a Barboursville pharmacy owner.

Federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service announced the award Wednesday for the Charleston and Huntington police departments and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.

The investigation led to the convictions of 19 people on federal charges, including 15 local drug dealers, two out-of-state drug suppliers and a pharmacy owner.

Prosecutors say a search of the suppliers’ home in Florida turned up bottles of oxycodone filled at A+ Care Pharmacy.

More than 50,000 pills, $2 million in cash and a luxury vehicle were seized from the pharmacy owner’s home. The owner, Kofe Agyekum, was sentenced in August to more than five years for avoiding federal cash reporting requirements.

Former Charleston Police Officer Accused of Excessive Force

A former Charleston Police officer who resigned last year after being investigated for destruction of property is being accused in a lawsuit of…

A former Charleston Police officer who resigned last year after being investigated for destruction of property is being accused in a lawsuit of unnecessarily using force against a man during an arrest.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that patrolman Brian Lightner is accused of battery after the lawsuit says Lightner deployed his stun gun five times on Diarra J. Boddy on Sept. 10, 2013. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

According to the lawsuit, Boddy had been complying with Lightner’s orders and was never given a warning before being hit.

Boddy is serving a 17-year jail sentence for the unlawful transport of firearms after a conviction last year.

Lightner resigned from the force after being accused of tossing a man’s backpack off a bridge in August 2014.

Image credit: Chris Browning via gunnewsdaily.com

Domestic Violence Suspect Fatally Shot by Police in Nitro

Police say an officer fatally shot a man in a Charleston, West Virginia, suburb after the man fired a gun at him.

Nitro Police Chief Brian Oxley tells media outlets that the officer was responding to a domestic violence complaint when the shooting occurred Saturday night.

Oxley says the man left the scene and went to a boat ramp before the officer arrived. The officer then went to the boat ramp and saw the man standing beside his vehicle.

The police chief says the officer got out of his cruiser and was walking toward the suspect when the man shot at him. The officer returned fire.

The officer wasn’t injured. Police haven’t identified the man or the officer.

Nitro is located about 14 miles northwest of Charleston.

United Way Fires Worker After Embezzlement

United Way of Central West Virginia says it has fired an employee after discovering that up to $16,000 was missing.United Way of Central West Virginia…

United Way of Central West Virginia says it has fired an employee after discovering that up to $16,000 was missing.

United Way of Central West Virginia president John Ballengee tells media outlets that the organization gave the findi

  ngs of an internal investigation to Charleston police and its insurance provider.

Ballengee says the internal investigation began after United Way officials found several unapproved credit card transactions last month.

He didn’t identify the employee who was fired, saying the theft is still under investigation.

The organization serves Boone, Clay, Logan, Kanawha and Putnam counties.

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