The Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department has more deputies than ever before, after four new hires in recent months.
“It’s a huge help that three of the officers have already been through the State Police Academy,” Sheriff Perry Palmer said.
Three of the new deputies have about two years of experience in law enforcement and only have to finish their 60 days of training with a field training officer before being able to hit the road on their own.
Deputy Jesse Hedrick spent two years with the Star City Police Department. Deputies Carnell King and John Cunningham went to the police academy together and spent two years with the University Police Department.
Deputy Zachary Hendershot used to work for Mylan as a chemist, but was laid off in July and decided to make a career change.
The department now has 42 deputies and has filled all of its personnel slots, including two additional positions created by the Monongalia County Commission a few years ago, Palmer said.
Monongalia County Commission President Ed Hawkins said the difficulty has been in filling the positions, not funding them, and that he’s glad the department is now fully staffed.
Applicants have to pass written tests, physical tests, mental exams, mental tests and more. It’s a lengthy and often disqualifying process.
The three experienced deputies are currently training with field training officers, meaning they are getting experience on all three shifts and learning how the sheriff’s department does things, Palmer said.
Once their training is finished, each shift will have an additional deputy assigned to it, Palmer said.
The sheriff’s department is responsible for 365 square miles and has a large call volume. Palmer said the department answered 2,900 calls in January, 2,700 in February and 625 through the first week of March.
That large amount of territory and call volume are part of the reason the three experienced officers switched to the department.
“You get plenty of room to go and be a police officer,” Hedrick said.
Hendershot will, hopefully, go to the West Virginia State Police Academy for training in April, according to Palmer.
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