Tag: Huntington Police Department

Huntington Police Report Less Crime, More Arrests

The Huntington Police Department reports that crime was down but arrests were up in the city last year.

Preliminary statistics released Wednesday show that total reported offenses were down nearly 5 percent. However, arrests increased more than 6 percent.

Drug offenses and DUI arrests both increased by about one-fourth. Prostitution arrests were up 83 percent.

Serious crimes as defined by the FBI decreased by nearly 5 percent. These crimes include murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Officers answered nearly 45,000 calls for service, an increase of nearly 3 percent.

Huntington Police to Recruit More Officers

The Huntington Police Department will step up its recruiting efforts as the application deadline approaches

The Herald-Dispatch reports the department will start using billboards, posters, flyers, brochures, social media and recruiting videos to let people know they are hiring more officers.

The city of Huntington has allocated $600,000 to the department for equipment upgrades and hiring efforts. The money comes from the projected $2.2 million in revenue generated from a $2 increase in the city’s user fee.

Huntington police chief Joe Ciccarelli says the department will also try to expand efforts to recruit minorities and create a more diverse department. The department currently has 104 officers, six of whom are female and three of whom are black.

All applications must be submitted by Jan. 22, 2016.

Police to Post Photos of Prostitute Solicitors on Billboard

Police in Huntington will begin using an electronic billboard to display the faces of people convicted of soliciting prostitutes.

The Herald-Dispatch reports Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli says he hopes the billboard helps in the battle against prostitution. Ciccarelli says research suggests publicly outing those who solicit prostitution instead of the prostitutes themselves is an effective tool in addressing the prostitution issue.

The billboard posted a warning Thursday night reading, “Pick up a prostitute, your photo will go here.”

Ciccarelli says the sign should begin posting offender photos at random Sunday or Monday pending legal processing.

He says the sign is designed to deter additional crimes committed by prostitutes against customers, such as robbing or assaulting people.

Police and Marshall to Investigate Large Fraternity Party

Police and Marshall University are investigating a mass fraternity party involving several hundred hundred students.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that several parties at fraternity houses along 5th Avenue merged into one gathering on Aug. 22, the first weekend of college.

Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli says about 20 officers responded to the scene after police received calls about the parties. He says a majority of the students were cooperative.

Ciccarelli says police issued a number of citations to students for underage consumption, public intoxication, obstruction and noise violations.

Marshall Office of Student Conduct director Lisa Martin says students or organizations could face sanctions or intervention in the form of specialized training.

DNA Testing Partnership Leads to Cold Case Indictment

A new partnership between local police and the Marshall University Forensic Science Center is already paying dividends.

Cabell County Prosecutor Sean “Corky” Hammers announced Wednesday that Oswald Gibson has been charged with second-degree sexual assault and kidnapping. Police say the attack occurred June 17th, 2004. The announcement of the indictment came during a press conference involving Huntington police, West Virginia state police and the Marshall University Forensic Science Center. It’s a partnership that has the forensic science center testing rape kits and checking DNA against the Combined DNA Index System or CODIS. They’re kits from the late 90s and early 2000s that were collected before CODIS existed. Hammers said the new arrangement could be huge in cracking cold cases.

Victims of these terrible crimes such as rape and sexual assault a lot of times cannot identify their assailant because they’re committed at a place or time where it was impossible to make an identification so all we have is a rape kit, which typically has a DNA profile in it. — Cabell County Prosecutor, Sean Hammers

By checking the DNA against CODIS, police can see if there is a match in the system and identify criminals. That’s how Hammers and Huntington Police were able to identify Oswald, and re-open a 2004 cold case.

Huntington Passes New Public Intoxication Ordinance

Huntington police officers can now take publicly intoxicated individuals to a treatment facility instead of jail.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that the Huntington City Council passed an ordinance on Monday to allow police officers to take individuals arrested for public intoxication to a treatment center to detox and issue a citation rather than taking them to a hospital and then to jail.

Recovery Point, formerly the Healing Place, says it will offer space for the police to bring men who have been arrested for public intoxication. It is a male-only facility, and Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli says the department is working on a similar arrangement with female facilities.

Ciccarelli says individuals who face more serious charges related to their public intoxication arrest would still face prosecution on those charges.

Exit mobile version