Public Information Officer Philip Stahl reported the statistics compiled during a 25-day special enforcement operation by the Wheeling Police Department on the south end of Wheeling Island.
The release was distributed on April 30, and included:
The operation netted 15 arrests, (many wanted from other jurisdictions), 17 criminal citations, 70 traffic stops, 23 consensual encounters, and multiple verbal warnings. Officers worked roughly 188 hours between March 3-27 and used funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to cover all manpower costs.
Perhaps more importantly, Stahl included this information as well:
When comparing overdoses from the 25-day operation to the same time in 2019 (2020 was not used because of the stay-at-home order), there was a 50-percent reduction in cases.
“I am incredibly thankful to the men and women of the Wheeling Police Department for working so diligently to help clean up our streets and neighborhoods. We have some of the most professional and caring officers in the entire country, right here in our great city, and their dedication to protecting and serving our community is unsurpassed,” said Ward 2 Council member Ben Seidler. “This successful operation took a number of bad actors off our streets, and for that we should all be thankful.”
But what investigative methods were used, and were those tactics in plain sight for residents to witness? Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said it depended on the day and the time because data on criminal activity reveals more than most realize.
“This operation was a derivative of the geographic policing that we try to do, and through those methods we know that we usually have three or four significant hot spots throughout the city at one time,” he explained. “That is based on the data that we collect, and we review that information frequently. That data is what determined that the south of end of Wheeling Island was the hottest of the hot spots.
“Lt. (Russ) Campbell, who is the North District Commander, was tasked with putting together an operation to address what we were seeing on the south end of the Island,” he said. “The operation included a variety of investigation methods because some days the officers would be in plain clothes and other days they would be highly visible.”
In Plain Sight
Schwertfeger knows Wheeling Island residents enjoy it when their area becomes a, “ghost town” because Wheeling Police are so visible, but that was only a small part of the 188-hour officer operation.
“That’s because there were days during this operation when the officers would be supported by the members of the Ohio Valley Drug Task Force. Those law enforcement officers are always working under cover,” the chief revealed. “Some days the officers would knock on the doors of known parolees, and they would also knock on the doors of addresses where there was suspected drug activity and doing what we call a ‘knock and talk.’
“So, there were many different investigative methods used during the 25-day period because they were the best ways to collect the information that was needed to do what we needed to do.”
And again, many of their moves were dictated by the data.
“Really, the operation was primarily about high visibility and zero tolerance to suspicious activity that was taking place in particular areas on the south end of the Island,” Schwertfeger said. “When I mention the data that was collected, that includes the calls received for service, the complaints by citizens, and the information collected by the Ohio County 911 dispatchers. Then that information is coupled with officer observations, and you look for repeat calls for service to a particular area.
“If there are several complaints about one particular address, you pay attention to that, of course, because citizens are telling us what they are seeing,” he continued. “At that point, you overlay the map of the overdoses that have taken place in a particular area, and we look at the time of day when the overdoses have taken place. By doing that, we can pinpoint the time when the most drug activity is taking place in an area.”
Enforcement Operation Game of Hide and Seek
When Schwertfeger cleared a homeless encampment in October 2020 because of criminal activity connected to its inhabitants, he and his officers discovered nine fugitives of justice that were involved with a number of the 250 calls to service received by the police department.
During the south-end operation, the majority of 15 people arrested were wanted in Belmont County
“There were a couple of guys who were from other areas of Ohio, and there was one guy who was wanted in Marshall County, but the majority of those people who were arrested were already indicted in Belmont County,” Schwertfeger said. “So, it is true that people come to Wheeling to hide because there is a drug market here, but I also think people from Belmont County can say the same about people from Wheeling hiding across the river.
“That’s why I am very pleased with the fact we formed that partnership with Belmont County because we communicate very often because we have many of the same issues,” he said. “When it comes to crime, that river is meaningless, so it’s important that we work on those issues together.”
Criminal activity and drug overdoses, though, take place in every ward of the city, and that is why Schwertfeger is preparing for similar operations in South Wheeling and North Wheeling.
“When people hear me requesting more police officers, it’s not because I just want to grow the department without reason,” he said. “I request more police officers because that’s what this city needs because of the drugs and all of the associated crime that goes with a very active drug market. The fact that overdoses decreased by 50 percent on the south end of the Island during those 25 days is proof that more officers would help save lives and cut down on crime.”
