June 26, 2009
West Virginia’s Top Cop Credits not Himself, but 'Absolutely a Department Wide Award'
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – As news broke of a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement bust that netted three arrests on federal drug trafficking and conspiracy charges (and warrants for at least three others), the inter-agency cooperation underscores the modesty of Police Chief Skip Holbrook. On June 11, Holbrook was named West Virginia Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“There’s a lot of things going on for the positive in this community. We certainly have many challenges ahead, but I believe our future is bright,” Holbrook told HNN prior to the most recent Huntington City Council meeting. Asked why the organization of trial attorneys chose him, the chief responded, “that’s a good question,” before explaining “it was quite an honor to be recognized … and certainly flattering.”
Holbrook then shifted the accolade stating, “Any recognition I get is [because of] the hands of the people working with me and for me. Our successes at the Huntington Police Department have been completely by the efforts of the patrol, detectives [and others], they have done a great job. We’ve been fortunate to secure a lot of outside funding that has allowed them to do their jobs at a high level. They singled me out, but it is absolutely a department wide award. It’s a team effort.“
When asked about reductions in crimes in the city, the chief has a cautious approach. He particularly does not like to tout achievements based on incomplete annual statistics or , even, compare Huntington with its east on Interstate 64 neighbor, Charleston.
“You have to be careful when looking at statistics. So many things can affect them. [The first quarter of 2009] is a small snapshot of what the year has in store for us. We don’t like to pat ourselves on the back until we see a full year,” adding that sometimes dips in statistics during one quarter even themselves out in another.
“We had a slight reduction last year , and we are hoping just to continue that pattern.”
When HNN noted the Kanawha Valley’s increasing homicide rate, Holbrook explained, “Last month Charleston had a few tough days, but we’ve had a few tough one’s ourselves. I try to focus on Huntington. We need to focus on our own box.”
During the Friday, June 19, bus tour of the city, Holbrook described different crime patterns in a variety of neighborhoods.
“The Ninth Avenue/Fairfield area is more of an open air drug market. You have more prostitution and more people who would traffic drugs on a street corner or front porch of dilapidated housing. It’s more outside [there], whereas, the same issues exist in the West End , however, we find the trend towards the west to be more inside. People are going in to a house to buy cocaine, pills or whatever it might be. I don’t have an explanation on ‘why,’ but that’s what we find,” Holbrook explained.
At one point in time, the Chief agreed you might have stated the drug issues in the Fairfield areas tended to be caused more by out-of-towners, but that’s not the case in 2009.
“You can’t say that anymore. Things are becoming disbursed; it affects everyone now. No matter what neighborhood, there’s no place [in Huntington] where someone has not identified suspected drug activity. That’s why it’s such a hot button topic, it’s not specific to Fairfield, It’s city-wide.”
The chief credited community members for watching neighborhood activity.
“That’s why community involvement is so necessary to help us combat it. We appreciate it anytime we get a ‘heads up,’ whether it’s a house, apartment, or suspected drug activity location. That allows us to be as proactive as possible.”
Has a strong police presence in Fairfield caused drug activities to spread throughout Huntington?
“That’s a fair question,” Holbrook said. “We really haven’t had the opportunity to analyze crime statistics. Off the cuff, it appears we probably are disbursing some of that [drug activity] because there has been such emphasis on manpower and operations in Fairfield. Obviously, it heats the area up and causes people to spread out. We’re seen activity pop up in Fairfield East, Ninth Street West, Fourth Street, Sixth Avenue … those are areas we make prostitution arrests. We know that we are pushing [activity] a little east or west . At the same time, by applying pressure in Fairfield through the Weed and Seed initiative. [Still], we try to be proactive in the East or West portion of town.”
Holbrook’s staff increased Thursday, June 25, courtesy of the user fees. The force gained four new members, including Brandon Dial, Daniel Wiles, Wes Wright, and Melissa Harper.
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West Virginia’s Top Cop Credits not Himself, but 'Absolutely a Department Wide Award'
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – As news broke of a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement bust that netted three arrests on federal drug trafficking and conspiracy charges (and warrants for at least three others), the inter-agency cooperation underscores the modesty of Police Chief Skip Holbrook. On June 11, Holbrook was named West Virginia Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“There’s a lot of things going on for the positive in this community. We certainly have many challenges ahead, but I believe our future is bright,” Holbrook told HNN prior to the most recent Huntington City Council meeting. Asked why the organization of trial attorneys chose him, the chief responded, “that’s a good question,” before explaining “it was quite an honor to be recognized … and certainly flattering.”
Holbrook then shifted the accolade stating, “Any recognition I get is [because of] the hands of the people working with me and for me. Our successes at the Huntington Police Department have been completely by the efforts of the patrol, detectives [and others], they have done a great job. We’ve been fortunate to secure a lot of outside funding that has allowed them to do their jobs at a high level. They singled me out, but it is absolutely a department wide award. It’s a team effort.“
When asked about reductions in crimes in the city, the chief has a cautious approach. He particularly does not like to tout achievements based on incomplete annual statistics or , even, compare Huntington with its east on Interstate 64 neighbor, Charleston.
“You have to be careful when looking at statistics. So many things can affect them. [The first quarter of 2009] is a small snapshot of what the year has in store for us. We don’t like to pat ourselves on the back until we see a full year,” adding that sometimes dips in statistics during one quarter even themselves out in another.
“We had a slight reduction last year , and we are hoping just to continue that pattern.”
When HNN noted the Kanawha Valley’s increasing homicide rate, Holbrook explained, “Last month Charleston had a few tough days, but we’ve had a few tough one’s ourselves. I try to focus on Huntington. We need to focus on our own box.”
During the Friday, June 19, bus tour of the city, Holbrook described different crime patterns in a variety of neighborhoods.
“The Ninth Avenue/Fairfield area is more of an open air drug market. You have more prostitution and more people who would traffic drugs on a street corner or front porch of dilapidated housing. It’s more outside [there], whereas, the same issues exist in the West End , however, we find the trend towards the west to be more inside. People are going in to a house to buy cocaine, pills or whatever it might be. I don’t have an explanation on ‘why,’ but that’s what we find,” Holbrook explained.
At one point in time, the Chief agreed you might have stated the drug issues in the Fairfield areas tended to be caused more by out-of-towners, but that’s not the case in 2009.
“You can’t say that anymore. Things are becoming disbursed; it affects everyone now. No matter what neighborhood, there’s no place [in Huntington] where someone has not identified suspected drug activity. That’s why it’s such a hot button topic, it’s not specific to Fairfield, It’s city-wide.”
The chief credited community members for watching neighborhood activity.
“That’s why community involvement is so necessary to help us combat it. We appreciate it anytime we get a ‘heads up,’ whether it’s a house, apartment, or suspected drug activity location. That allows us to be as proactive as possible.”
Has a strong police presence in Fairfield caused drug activities to spread throughout Huntington?
“That’s a fair question,” Holbrook said. “We really haven’t had the opportunity to analyze crime statistics. Off the cuff, it appears we probably are disbursing some of that [drug activity] because there has been such emphasis on manpower and operations in Fairfield. Obviously, it heats the area up and causes people to spread out. We’re seen activity pop up in Fairfield East, Ninth Street West, Fourth Street, Sixth Avenue … those are areas we make prostitution arrests. We know that we are pushing [activity] a little east or west . At the same time, by applying pressure in Fairfield through the Weed and Seed initiative. [Still], we try to be proactive in the East or West portion of town.”
Holbrook’s staff increased Thursday, June 25, courtesy of the user fees. The force gained four new members, including Brandon Dial, Daniel Wiles, Wes Wright, and Melissa Harper.
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