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Wheeling Nets Federal Funds for Police, Fire Departments

photo by: Eric Ayres

The new Wheeling Police Department Headquarters is currently under construction on Chapline Street in Center Wheeling inside the Valley Professional Center building on the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus. More than $1 million in federal COPS Technology and Equipment Program funding has been secured to outfit the new building with cutting-edge equipment.

WHEELING — More than $1 million in federal funding has been secured by the city of Wheeling to help provide cutting-edge technology inside the new Wheeling Police Department Headquarters.

Another federal award in the amount of $338,009 was also secured for the Wheeling Fire Department.

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Friday announced that seven programs in the state of West Virginia were receiving a total of more than $6.3 million from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for programs dedicated to public safety. The senators also announced a total of more than $8.1 million for fire departments across West Virginia through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Through the COPS funding, the city of Wheeling was awarded $1,001,000. The city of New Martinsville received a $58,000 award. Other allocations were earmarked for Shepherd University, the town of Granville, W.Va., and the West Virginia cities of Charleston, Huntington and Milton.

“I am pleased to announce these seven critical investments from the Department of Justice to assist West Virginia communities in investigating, responding to and preventing crime,” Manchin said. “The funding announced today will help improve police effectiveness and the flow of information between the law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. I look forward to seeing the positive impacts of the investments for years to come.”

The funding is made possible through the COPS Technology and Equipment Program and will help communities develop and acquire effective technologies, equipment and interoperable communications to bolster crime prevention and response across the state.

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron on Friday said the city had previously been notified of the tentative award, much like the recent $500,000 earmark that was also announced this week to help pay for asbestos abatement at the Nurses Residence on the campus of the former Ohio Valley Medical Center. Herron said the city had to apply for funds through the appropriate federal agency as a step in the process to ultimately secure this needed funding.

“The application process is non-competitive, but it ensures that the project qualifies, is a real project and can be accomplished in the appropriate time frames,” Herron explained, noting that this funding is “particularly important as it is providing state-of-the-art law enforcement technology to our new police headquarters. These funds will not only greatly enhance the city of Wheeling’s law enforcement efforts, but also be available for training of other area departments, not to mention that the whole project will assist in recruitment and retention of police officers.”

Capito stressed that citizens of the state deserve to have safety and peace of mind in their neighborhoods and communities, and that is the purpose behind this funding.

“The awards announced today will directly invest in towns and cities across West Virginia by supporting public safety initiatives that prevent crime and bolster our response efforts,” Capito said. “I’m glad to announce this funding, and I am confident it will go a long way in helping our localities acquire cutting-edge technology and equipment that will help keep West Virginians safe.”

Work has been progressing steadily inside the new Wheeling Police Headquarters on Chapline Street in Center Wheeling. Work to renovate the former Valley Professional Center on the former OVMC campus into the new, state-of-the-art police headquarters has been ongoing for several months and is expected to wrap up later this fall.

“I can’t stress enough how grateful we are to Sens. Manchin and Capito for this (award),” Herron said. “It is a significant benefit for the safety of our officers and our citizens. Congratulations to both for recognizing and assisting in funding our police.”

The funding for West Virginia fire departments was made available through FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants program.

“Providing up-to-date training for our first responders is paramount in ensuring that the best-trained first responders arrive for our citizens in need,” Herron said. “We are blessed with an outstanding fire department whose paramedics save lives nearly every day. Consideration of our department by our state senators through this very helpful earmark is a significant tribute to our firefighters and paramedics, but also speaks volumes about Sen. Capito’s and Sen. Manchin’s recognition of the importance of first responders to the citizens of West Virginia.”

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