He didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out to be a reflection of the progress he’s witnessed since he was hired as Wheeling’s police chief nearly 14 years ago.
The City of Wheeling’s contract with “On Patrol: Live” expires in May, but Chief Shawn Schwertfeger doesn’t expect he’ll hear back from the producers of the Reelz Network program.
Why not?
“I don’t believe the crews will be coming back because, compared to some of the other locations where they are, we just didn’t have a lot going on. I’m sure that’s why we’ve not heard from them even though there’s still some time on our contract,” Schwertfeger revealed. “Those guys loved us, though. We received a lot of compliments because of how we do things here, but there wasn’t much happening during those night shifts.
“It may not have been good for TV, but it was good news for our residents here in Wheeling. Just watching those shows helped me realize the progress that we’ve seen here,” he said. “There’s nowhere near the amount of radio traffic these days compared to when I first started here.”
After serving for 21 years with the Albemarle County Police Department in Charlottesville, Va., Schwertfeger followed Robert Matheny as the city’s police chief in June 2012. Since then, the Marshall County native and West Liberty State College graduate immediately encountered drug-related crimes that continue to be imported today from larger cities like Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.
“When I first came to Wheeling, that’s when the drug epidemic was getting started with the pills, the opiates, and we’ve seen the drugs change during my time here,” Schwertfeger said. “After the pills, we started seeing people with needles in their arms with heroin, then fentanyl, and now we’re seeing meth because the dealers keep feeding the demand.
“That’s why cocaine made an appearance again last year – crack cocaine – so the drugs that we’ve seen during my years here have been some of the worst that are out there. It’s ever evolving, and it’s coming here from all directions,” he continued. “And we’ve seen the number of property crimes go up and down because those crimes are connected to drug use.”
There were murders, too, and in several cases, out-of-towners used Wheeling’s streets as their battlegrounds to wage their personal drug wars. The Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office convicted a number of individuals following successful investigations into killings on Wheeling Island and in East Wheeling, but Schwertfeger is pleased the level of violence has significantly decreased over the past five to 10 years.
“Knock on wood, everyone knows that anything can happen at any time. There’s no such thing as crimes that don’t happen everywhere anymore, but we only average one or two homicides a year – if that – and we’re not seeing drug-related homicides like we did 10 or 12 years ago,” Schwertfeger said. “Now, during that time, we’ve had homicides, sadly, but they’ve been domestic in nature, and not related to the drug trade.
“Crimes are committed in Wheeling just like they are everywhere else,” he said. “But our success as law enforcement is well known to those who are committing crimes, and that’s one of a lot of reasons why our city is a very safe place to live.”
Evolution of Crime Fighting
At first, it was about mindset.
The Wheeling Police Department has had stellar leadership through the years, according to City Manager Bob Herron, but once out-of-state drug dealers identified East Ohio and the Northern Panhandle as an easy target for illegal narcotics, the look of crime fighting took on a new look.
Training became more specific. The equipment evolved to tactical. Bulletproof vests and body cameras are now the norm. And while law enforcement officers – on all levels – continue to serve and protect, the criminal opponent has become more technologically sophisticated and less laissez-faire in small-town America.
“I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made, and I’m proud of the culture that exists at the Wheeling Police Department,” Schwertfeger said. “And I’m not a big awards person; it’s great and all to get them, but what means a lot to me is when a complete stranger stops me at Centre Market or somewhere in the city and they say, ‘The Wheeling Police Department is really professional, and the way that you treat people is terrific with all if the things that you all are doing’.
“That means to the world to me,” the chief said. “The culture we have had to develop over the years, but it’s there now, and I’m proud of the people who work in supervisory roles and of all of the young people who have been coming on board. We have been seeing more men and women interested in law enforcement, and that’s been very good to see.”
Schwertfeger enjoys attending the department’s crime watch meetings when he can, and working with local residents is one of his favorite parts of his position.
It’s all about eyes and ears.
“I know there are trust issues with law enforcement in some parts of the country, but it’s different here because there remains a huge amount of support for law enforcement and first responders,” Schwertfeger said. “Sure, there can always be a bad egg who refuses to roll down their window when they’re pulled over, or they film you – but that’s OK with us because we’re filming them right back with our body cams.
“We’ve always had the cooperation of our residents, and we’re very happy about that,” he said. “One of the reasons why is our crime watch meetings with folks from all over the city. They offer us a lot of information that helps our officers do their jobs because they know what’s going on where they live. That cooperation is key.”
Schwertfeger accepted the chief’s position in Wheeling before visiting the department’s former headquarters on the first floor of the Ohio County Courthouse, so, on his first day, he encountered a home base for 73 officers and multiple civilian personnel that measured only 4,600 square feet.
That’s why, on July 12, 2023, he joined city officials to cut the ribbon to open the new 30,000-square-foot HQ in Center Wheeling in a structure that once housed a plethora of doctor’s offices connected to the former Ohio Valley Medical Center.
“There have been a lot of positive things that have taken place over the last 14 years, and the biggest thing has to be the new facility in Center Wheeling. The new headquarters has made a huge difference like we thought it would,” the chief said. “Plus, every officer has an assigned vehicle, and that was something we wanted to make happen, too.
“We’ve also seen the number of service calls going down over the course of the last couple of years,” Schwertfeger added. “I remember when I first started here, and I would go out on some midnight shifts, and it seemed like there was a lot going on, but then, as I watched our night shift officers on the ‘On Patrol: Live’ shows, I realized we’ve accomplished a lot to make Wheeling a very safe city.”
