Princeton Police Department

100 Courthouse Road

Princeton, WV  24740-2431

Phone (304) 487-5000

Fax (304) 487-5002

E-mail princetonwvpolicedept@frontiernet.net

William L. Harman

Police Chief

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“To Serve and Protect” has steadfastly remained our motto for 99 years. Our mission is still to provide the highest quality of life possible for residents, businesses, and visitors of the City of Princeton by protecting life and safeguarding property.

 

Ø     Every officer, upon passing our own stringent testing and standards, must attend and obtain certification from the WV State Police Academy.  Ranking officers attend Police Supervision and Management Courses.  All officers must pass Firearms Recertification and Continuing Education Classes annually.  Our training curriculum includes, but is not limited to investigation techniques in the crimes of Fraud, Finance, Domestic Violence, Homicide, Sexual Assault and Hostage Negotiation.  Three rotating eight-hour shifts, each supervised by a Commanding Officer assisted by a Sergeant, provide 24-hour police protection.  Readily available resources to all shifts are the Detective Bureau and the K-9 unit.

 

Ø   Administrative hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  Our duties include welcoming and assisting the public with general police matters, providing clerical and computer support for officers, managing records, and processing submissions required by State and Federal Government Agencies.  Our staff receives continuing education on cutting edge software and technology.

 

Ø   Enhancing the safety of primary school students is our School Crossing Guard.  Parking Enforcement assists with problems from the daily influx of traffic.

 

Ø     Networking with local Law Enforcement and Community Programs helps us to gain insight into suspicious and illegal activities, allows the pooling of additional resources, enhances community awareness, promotes interest in law enforcement and social science skills, fosters positive interaction with police officers, and facilitates in making our city safer to visit, live in or work in.  Some of this year’s interacting agencies contributing to our brighter future for tomorrow follow:

 

Southern Regional Drug & Violence Task Force	Community Service Workers
U. S. Marshal Service	Boy Scouts of America
Child Protect	Princeton Recreation Center
Neighborhood Watch Program	Appalachian Teen Challenge
Mercer County Day Report	Mercer County Public Schools
WV Coalfields Highway Safety Program	Local Church Groups

 

Ø     Through the auspices of the WV Coalfields Highway Safety Program, our department, ranking number one in the State for accuracy in reporting, received a monetary award of $10,799 toward the purchase of laptop computers.  The computers are now required in the state-mandated submission of WV Motor Vehicle Stop Forms (WVMVSF) and Uniform Traffic Crash Reports (UTCR).  The public will have access to purchase crash reports in the on-line statewide reporting system, Report Beam.  Officers will also utilize the computers for accessing our recently established VPN Crimes Database. 

 

Ø     Wishing them well in all future endeavors, Sgt. W. A. Peery and Sgt. C. N. Poe, each serving over 22 dedicated years, retired last year.  Congratulations to Sgt. Detective J. W. Howell, Sgt. B. R. Woodard and Sgt. T. A. Gray for achieving the rank of Sergeant.  With pride and satisfaction in their profession, these highly trained men and women are the Princeton Police Department:

 

Chief W. L. Harman                                                    Officer W. M. Bradley

Captain P. V. Powell                                                   Officer D. B. Whited

Lt. P. W. Hill                                                                  Officer E. T. Pugh

Lt. K. T. Compton                                                        Officer J. D. Lambert                             

Sgt. W. J. Gilley, Report Beam Coordinator           Officer D. A. Weatherly

Sgt. Detective J. W. Howell                                        Officer B. E. Grimm

Sgt. B. R. Woodard                                                      Officer A. M. Buck                                      

Sgt. T. A. Gray                                                              Officer C. S. Winkler

Detective T. A. Bailey                                                  Deanna Sutphin, Office Manager

Officer M. B. Gergely                                                   Patty Ballengee, Admin. Assistant

Officer J. D. Halsey & Iska, K-9 Unit                         Teresa Gallimore, Police Clerk

Officer J. S. Bish                                                           Cathy Douglas, Parking Enf./Crossing   

                                                                                               Guard

 

 

Ø     Realizing the benefits of increased visibility and availability afforded from officers working from their vehicles, special attention is bestowed our vehicle fleet.  This year we added two 2008 Dodge Chargers, vehicles were equipped with laptop computer mounts, and a grant through the Governor’s Highway Safety Program enabled the purchase of additional in-car cameras.  Routine maintenance ensures all vehicles are in excellent repair.

 

Ø     During the past fiscal year, the Princeton Police Department had 6,090 calls for service (a 2% decrease from last year), resulting in 3,620 arrests and/or citations (a 19% increase since last year).  We attribute those improved numbers to proactive enforcement of  traffic laws reducing the number of accidents, thorough investigations aiding in the apprehension and prosecution of known offenders, training facilitating the detection of criminal activity, and discouraging criminal acts by maintaining high visibility.

 

Ø Our continued goal is to preserve the quality of life in Princeton by providing a safe environment through the provision of professional law enforcement services.