(Editor’s note: Jim Davis served 7 terms as Hancock County’s Prosecuting Attorney)
To the Editor,
Over the past several years, our country has experienced a movement to defund police agencies. The assertion is that law enforcement is inherently biased against certain groups. The proponents of this concept believe that the only way to address this alleged bias is to eliminate funding for police agencies tasked with enforcing the law and protecting the public. California has been one area where this concept has been promoted. The results there and in other areas have been disastrous. One only need to look at the chaos and lawlessness in San Francisco following severe limitations being placed on police agencies. Frankly, I did not believe it possible that this type of mindset could even be considered in Hancock County.
Initially, I must advise that I served seven terms as Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney. I am quite familiar with law enforcement in Hancock County and I have observed the great strides made in the professionalism and dedication of the Hancock County Sheriff Department over the past decades. At the time I left office at the end of 2020, the officers of the Sheriff Department were as good as those of any law enforcement agency in the state and the citizens of Hancock County were well protected.
Now we have Commissioner Eron Chek who lived for many years in California. It seems that some of the California mentality has been embraced by our “California Commissioner”. She has already succeeded in slashing 15% of the Sheriff Department budget. Now she is demanding that another 15% be cut, an elimination of 30% of funding for the Sheriff Department over two years. If this is not “defunding the police” I don’t know what it may be.
As I noted above, I served seven terms as Prosecuting Attorney in Hancock County. Over that time, I worked with numerous Commissioners in facing several financial issues affecting the county budget. As a department head I and the other department heads met with the Commission to address the financial problems, make adjustments and cut our budgets as needed, NEVER in any of those situations was one department asked to cut 30% of their budget. Across the board, equal reductions were worked out.
Now, for some reason (she has never explained herself), Commissioner Chek has targeted the Sheriff Department. The cuts that she demands will place the citizens of Hancock County at risk. It had and has been a difficult task for 4 or 5 deputies on a shift to cover Hancock County from the city limits of Weirton to the city limits of Chester including all of the outlying areas of the county. Now with the cuts dictated by the California Commissioner, there may be only two deputies to cover the same area. If a serious traffic accident occurs in New Manchester close in time to an armed robbery on Rt. 30 and a home invasion on Kings Creek Road, someone will pay the price of our Commissioner’s wrongheaded ideas. Do the citizens of Hancock County prefer safety or the ability to get paperwork processed at the courthouse more quickly?
Fortunately, Eron Chek, the source of these reckless ideas, is up for re-election this spring. The citizens have the chance to make their voices heard. I urge all right thinking citizens to remove any elected official who is acted to put them at risk. However, this is not the full extent of the issue. As noted by our newest Commissioner, Tom Ogden, he was duped by the California Commissioner based on erroneous “facts” (along with calculations based on this misinformation), into initially supporting her agenda. He has now acknowledged this mistake and is opposing her plan. That leaves us with Commissioner Paul Cowey who is our longest serving Commissioner. He had been present for at least a portion of the matters I addressed above and he should know better. For some reason I cannot fathom, he is allowing himself to be led into supporting this defunding effort. He, of all the Commissioners, should appreciate the necessity of having a fully manned, trained and equipped Sheriff Department. I cannot accept that he believes this is a good idea or that he is willing to risk the safety of the citizens of Hancock County. Even though he is not up for re-election at this time, he is answerable to the people of Hancock County. Contact him, let your voice be heard and urge him to refuse to support this blatant effort to defund our Sheriff Department.
James W. Davis Jr.
104 California Avenue
Weirton, WV
304-723-5538
