photo by: Joselyn King

Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft updates commissioners on holiday patrols at The Highlands during a commission meeting on Tuesday morning.

Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft thinks the public and county commissioners should know the crime data resulting from new license plate readers and additional patrols at The Highlands.

He provided numbers to the commissioners during their meeting on Tuesday morning. The data reflected responses to calls at The Highlands occurring Black Friday, Nov. 27, through Monday.

Croft informed commissioners at a meeting last month he would have extra patrols at the development during the holiday season, and also have someone direct traffic there at busy times to lessen congestion.

“I think it’s important you know that you’re getting the most bang for your buck out of this,” he told commissioners Tuesday.

Deputies responded to 132 calls at The Highlands during the time period, Croft reported. These included 17 burglar alarms, five reportable crashes, three private property crashes, three instances of disorderly conduct, three shopliftings and one fire alarm activation. There were also numerous traffic stops, he noted.

“The most important thing is that there were 60 foot patrols of businesses up there (since Black Friday),” Croft continued. “I can tell you I’ve been contacted by a number of managers, and they are very appreciative when they see a deputy walk in the store.

“We are kind of on track with how I wanted to go with The Highlands.”

Croft also reported that, on Black Friday at The Highlands, the department’s new license plate readers recorded more than 28,000 vehicles at the development coming in and out during the course of the day.

“I didn’t realize … I know Black Friday is busy, but that’s a lot of traffic in and out,” he said. “Kudos to the OCDA (Ohio County Development Authority) for getting that business up there.”

Croft told commissioners that, at one of their meetings in January, he will present them with sheriff’s department statistics including all areas of the county for 2025. Also, Croft praised the initial success of the new license plate readers purchased for his department.

He reported that, during the first six days, the license plate readers were placed along Interstate 70, a stolen car and stolen license plate were found, as was a missing person.

“Thank you for that tool we now have in our toolbox,” Croft told commissioners.

The commissioners are next set to meet at 8 a.m. Jan. 6 at the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St., Wheeling.