The chief of police in Wheeling does not believe systemic racism exists in policing, and not just in the Friendly City but across the country.
Chief Shawn Schwertfeger insisted that point on The Watchdog (98.1 FM WKKX and 97.7 FM WVLY) Monday and cited his extended law enforcement career with the Albemerle County Police Department for 21 years before he was named the chief in Wheeling in June 2012.
“I will be the first to admit that I do not believe there is systemic racism in policing in the United States,” the police chief said. “I do not. I based that opinion on what I have seen and on a number of articles that I have read, one of which was very recently. That article reported data that shows that in 2019 across the United States that the number of police-civilian contact took place 375 million times.
“That could be a traffic stop or a crime watch meeting or if you get arrested by a police officer for whatever reason,” he continued. “Out of those 375 million contacts between police officers and civilians in 2019, there were 28 unarmed people who were killed by police. Of those 28 people, nine were African-American and the other 19 were white.”
The Data
Schwertfeger knows unarmed people have been killed because of members of law enforcement, but the number of such nationwide incidents just last year permits this police chief to believe the message is an important one while also painting with a broad brush.
“The data does not show systemic racism by police, but I am sure other people will disagree with me on that,” Schwertfeger said. “But I am not going to say that exists just because it’s a popular narrative. Now, I am going to say that I believe, particularly with young people, there is a lack of trust in police, and I can’t explain where that comes from.
“I do believe that it’s a message that comes at them constantly from the media, from high-profile athletes, and from actors in Hollywood,” he said. “They get it constantly, and that’s made them believe it. But as someone who has been in the law enforcement profession for 30 years, I have never seen it.”
The Suspect
Four overdoses took place last weekend in Wheeling, and all survived and told Wheeling authorities they believed they were snorting cocaine. It wasn’t cocaine, though, and Schwertfeger continues to wait for the report from the state lab.
“These drug dealers have been selling whatever they can get their hands on, especially during the last few months,” Schwertfeger said. “That doesn’t mean they are telling their customers what they are getting, and that’s been the case here recently.
“But white, brown, black, or whatever color,” he added. “When we find these dealers, it won’t matter to the members of this police department.”
Recruiting is difficult nowadays for police departments and sheriff’s offices throughout the country, and Wheeling’s police chief cites the national media and social media members as the funneling fuelers of misinformation. But Schwertfeger will continue believing what he sees.
“My opinion on this is different than the popular narrative because I know that police officers are very much color blind,” Schwertfeger said. “It really doesn’t matter who the suspect is or what race they are. All that matters is that they are a suspect we’re looking for at the time. We look at it at you are either a violator or you’re not.
“A police officer is the first person to roll their eyes when the elderly white woman calls 911 to report a suspicious individual just because they are black. That does occur, and if someone wants to say there is prejudice in this valley, OK,” the chief explained. “But now police officers are being stereotyped, and how do we not see the unfairness there? You just can’t paint every police officer with the same brush.”
