Published: June 27, 2009 11:26 pm      

Mineral sheriff praises performance of officers

Fraley completes six months in office

KEYSER, W.Va. — After completing his first six months in office, Mineral County Sheriff Craig Fraley is “excited and pleased” with the performance of his officers as well as the civilian employees that comprise the department.

“Everybody in the department is doing an excellent job. I appreciate all of them. I couldn’t ask for better employees,” said Fraley, who said each of his officers routinely handles 10 to 15 calls for service per shift.

Ten officers are providing patrols throughout the county 20 or 21 hours every day under the direction of the sheriff and two corporals, Roy J. Wingler and Chris Leatherman.

“They are doing an excellent job supervising and scheduling and they have stepped up. I’ve added some extra duties on them and they have run with it,” said Fraley.

Some of those add-on duties were derived from the chief deputy position that has remained vacant since the sheriff took office.

“That position is still open. It is included in our new budget that has been submitted to the commissioners for approval. I’m looking for someone from the outside with past experience,” said Fraley, who also hopes to fill a sergeant position that has remained unfilled following the death of veteran Sgt. David Rolls in August 2008.

As with most smaller police departments, manpower levels are always a challenge, especially since some departments offer salaries that are up to $15,000 more than what Mineral deputies are paid.

“But we’re paying 100 percent of our officers’ health benefits here and that is a plus. The officers also each have their own take-home vehicle,” he said.

The department also now includes Officer Paul Karalewitz, a law enforcement veteran with more than three decades of experience. He will serve as the school resources officer at Keyser High School, a position formerly held by Fraley.

When school’s out, Karalewitz will assist with bailiff and prisoner transport duties in addition to compliance duties in the county’s assessment office to ensure vehicles have been properly registered in the county. Kam Jeffries is the department’s contractual school resources officer at Frankfort High School in Short Gap who is off duty when school is not in session.

“We have an influx of people who move here and are living here but have not legally registered their vehicles and obtained their West Virginia driver’s license. Last month, we had about 20 people come in to register and come into compliance. They have 15 days to comply once we send them a written notice. We are just making sure that everyone is in compliance and we are getting the assessments that the county is entitled to under the law,” he said.

Concerning the department’s fleet of police cruisers, the oldest is a 1999 model with about 140,000 miles on it. Fraley’s budget for the new fiscal year is $757,982 for law enforcement and includes funding for two new vehicles. A third vehicle may be forthcoming, pending approval of a grant application.

“My goal is to get three new vehicles in the new budget year. Our vehicles are still holding their own. We also have two vehicles for our deputy reserve unit,” said Fraley.

Those volunteer deputies in the reserve unit routinely provide security at county events, such as the Mineral County Fair the annual Strawberry Festival. The nine volunteers in the deputy reserve unit also may assist officers in prisoner transports.

On another note, Fraley said his office is also continuing to address a backlog of tax processing paperwork and record keeping.

“My goal was to have it done by July 1. I think we won’t be too far off. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The girls in the tax office are working very hard to get caught up. The biggest thing is getting them trained on what they need to do,” he said. Five employees work in the office that is budgeted for $290,903 for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

In another development, the sheriff is anticipating completion of the department’s Web site in the near future.

“It’s a slower process than what I thought it would be. Basically, the shell is up and our e-mail addresses are up and running. It should be fully ready in a couple of weeks,” said Fraley, who is relying on the expertise of the Blue Penguin Co. of Keyser to develop the Web site.

“It’s going to be pretty neat. We are trying to include some historic photographs from the department, a memorial page for our deceased officers and a retirement page. There will also be e-mail for citizens to contact us through a tip-line.

“Blue Penquin with Leon Ravenscroft is doing a great job. He oversees all of our computers with monthly maintenance and is working on our countywide Internet system that will allow our officers to file their reports from laptops in their patrol vehicles. As much as I can give officers in the field, that is what i want to do,” said the sheriff.

Ongoing networking of the department’s computers will aid officers in accessing of concealed weapons permits, warrants and civil service documents and law enforcement records.

Another matter under review by the sheriff is the future of the department’s holding facility that is located next to the courthouse.

The building was constructed in the early 1970s as a jail to accommodate 36 inmates. However, formation of the regional jail system in 1989 eventually closed the jail, converting it to a holding facility where inmates are detained before being taken to the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Augusta. The regional jail at Augusta opened in 1999.

The holding facility building was equiped with a new heating and air conditioning system earlier this year at a cost of about $17,000. But new duct work is now needed since the old duct work was not compatible with the new HVAC system.

“I anticipate future discussions with the commissioners about the holding facility. The county is looking at doing some remodeling. A lot of space is wasted and we can cut it down to hold up to 16 inmates. Five employees staff the facility but will require training if the facility continues to be used as a holding facility. Or should we just take prisoners directly to the regional jail? Right now we are operating as is but that could change.” The department is budgeted for $555,000 to house its county prisoners in the regional jail, an allocation that is $100,000 more than last year’s prisoner housing budget.

Fraley said he has enjoyed the dialogue with county officials. “I work well with the commissioners and the county coordinator. We can sit and discuss matters. We have questions and solutions at the same time,” he said.

Concerning crime in the county, Fraley said he has seen an increase in drug activity, including heroin and methamphetamine use.

However, Fraley said citizens tips and traffic stops by his officers have helped fight the increasing drug activity.

“The drug problems are creeping in more and more, but there is a lot of activity in our department and our officers are doing an excellent job,” said the sheriff.

Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.