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PLANNING SCHOOLS ENVIRONMENT EROSION
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Page updated 12/18/03 Traffic
fines are at bottom of page
Click for Crime Rates Links on emergency preparedness
Maps of
risk from floods,
landslides
(p.231), subsidence (p.251), summary (p.331)
Police, Sheriff, Fire, Ambulance
Call:
911 - Emergency
- if you need someone in minutes, anywhere in the county. Know how to give driving directions. Breathe deeply &
stay calm. Describe the problem. Give the phone number to call back. Don't hang
up until the operator does. S/he may have more questions.
725-8484
- Non-emergency. Both this and previous number operate 24 hours a day.
They send the nearest help, or the one with jurisdiction, no matter where you
live in the county.
Info needed for traffic crimes: tag number &
state, date & time, place, vehicle description, crime description; photos
very helpful.
728-1983
- hotline for emergency conditions in county
728-2677
- Report a crime anonymously. Or report a crime in public schools anonymously: 800-418-6423 x359. Both numbers record your message.
Wvcrime.com report crimes with or without
your name & address
800-233-fire(3473) - Arson hotline. Operates 24 hours a day. You can report anonymously. This is
a state-wide number.
800-322-5530 - Litter hotline. This is a statewide number.
877-FraudWV -
Election fraud (statewide)
725-6550
- Victim's advocates. They're a professional staff in the county government who
will help & support you after you report a crime to 911, no matter where
you live in the county. They answer the phone 9-5 Monday-Friday, and take a
recorded message other times.
Circuit Court records
If you call 911 from a land line, the 911 center knows what address you're calling from.
If you call from a cell phone, they only know location within 150-1000 feet. Cell
phones are great when you see an emergency while out on the road, but they're
nowhere near as accurate as a land line.
FCC Phase II requires cell phone companies to give caller's location to 911 center:
• Use network antennas to locate caller within
– 100 meters for 67 percent of calls
– 300 meters for 95 percent of calls
• OR use GPS in handset to locate caller within
– 50 meters for 67 percent of calls
– 150 meters for 95 percent of calls
47CFR20.18(h) http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Orders/1999/fcc99245.txt (paragraphs 12, 72, 74)
If you have praise or complaint about an emergency worker (great success/mistakes,
respectful/rude, helpful/harassing, quick response/no response or anything
else), call their boss or the head of their department. The non-emergency number above will tell you their boss
& phone number to call.
If you have a serious complaint that is not resolved,
write to the civilian board in charge, return receipt requested. They have
authority to investigate. Also you may want to ask if someone from a citizens
group can give you advice, such as the NAACP, League of Women
Voters, AARP, ACLU, etc. Possibly also call the State Attorney General 304-558-0546 or FBI 263-3421.
Police.
Click here to learn your rights when you're stopped or
searched by police
Civilian boards are:
- Sheriff's Civil Service Commission, PO Box 250, Charles Town WV
25414: Ginger Burcker appointed by Deputy Sheriff's
Association. James
Crawford 725-3426 appointed by county
lawyers. Frank Rosario 728-7241, 518 Morrison St Charles Town, appointed by County Commission 9/29/01-9/29/05.
- Charles
Town Mayor, PO
Box 14, Charles Town WV
25414: (Civil Service Commission does not receive complaints, but reviews
them.)
- Harpers Ferry Civil Service Commission, PO Box 555, Harpers Ferry,
WV 25425
- Ranson Civil Service Commission, 312 S Mildred St, Ranson WV 25438:
- Shepherdstown
Town Council: PO Box 248,
Shepherdstown WV
25443
- State Police?
Central
dispatch is supervised by the County Commission,
PO Box 250,
Charles Town WV 25414
Victim's Advocates are supervised by the County Prosecutor,
PO Box 729,
Charles Town WV 25414: Ralph Lorenzetti
Fire
Companies/Departments - Articles on slow
response times: Nationally, Locally
#1. Harpers Ferry/Bolivar (Friendship), PO
Box 126, Harpers Ferry WV 25425
#2. Charles Town (Citizens), PO Box 927, Charles
Town WV
25414
#3. Shepherdstown, PO Box F, Shepherdstown
WV 25443.
#4. Ranson (Independent), PO
Box 925, Ranson
WV 25438
#5. Blue Ridge Mountain,
Rt 1, Box 790, Harpers Ferry WV 25425
#7. Bakerton, PO Box F, Bakerton WV 25410, 304-876-0007
Insurance Services Office
rates fire companies on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is best, and 10 is for
homes more than 5 miles from a fire station. Insurance premiums generally go up
with the rating, except State Farm uses its own experience by zip code to set
premiums. Shepherdstown is rated 7 in city limits or within 1000 feet of a fire
hydrant, and 9 for others, according to Tom Maiden's
article in the 5/7/04
Shepherdstown Chronicle. I would appreciate hearing
of other fire stations' ratings.
Emergency Preparedness Committee
WVU
report on regions DC suburbanites
might evacuate to (hype: even 3 Mile Island
& 9/11 caused little evacuation)
Click here for facts & video on benefits of fire
sprinklers at home
Value of music on 9/11/01
Links on emergency
preparedness
Ambulance
If you can drive yourself or be driven safely, do so.
You'll often get to treatment faster. The ambulance won't get you faster
service at the hospital, since the crew will determine your condition on the
way, and will tell the hospital if your case is not urgent. This is not
a taxi service. Volunteers leave their homes and endanger their lives to reach
you, and cannot respond to other calls when they are going to you.
If the answer to
any of the following questions is yes, you need an ambulance:
1. Is the condition life-threatening?
2. Could the condition worsen or become life-threatening on the way to the
hospital?
3. Could moving the victim cause further injury?
4. Does the victim need the skills or equipment of Paramedics or Emergency
Medical Technicians (EMTs)?
Explanations:
The fire & ambulance company will send an ambulance, which will usually
come with a driver and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who may provide oxygen, splint a broken
bone and other non-invasive procedures.
At the same time, the Ambulance Authority sends a support truck with a Paramedic
who is allowed by WV law to do what an EMT
may, and also provide drugs, insert a breathing tube or intravenous (IV) tube
and other invasive procedures.
Ambulance
Authority, PO Box 336,
Charles Town WV 25414: Mike
Alvarez, Pete
Kelley, Steven
McKinney, Scott
Morgan, Cliff Peacher,
Matt Perks
Reporting a Crime
The police or deputy sheriff will have a report form, to
ask you some standard questions. Sample questions will be listed below, as soon
as we can, so you can be prepared.
If someone harasses you with insults based on race, sex, religion,
ethnicity, disability, politics, or sexual orientation, report it. While simple
insults are not a crime, the police & sheriff want these reports, because
if the person later attacks someone, the history of harassment (terrorising people) is significant in prosecuting the
crime.
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County Sheriff's Office
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City Police Departments
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WV Law Section 7-14-3. Civil service
commission.
...three
commissioners, one ... appointed by the bar association of such
county, one ... appointed by the deputy sheriff's association of such
county, and one ... appointed by the county commission...
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Section 8-14-7. Policemen's civil service
commission generally.
...three commissioners, one ...
appointed by the mayor of the city; one ... appointed by the local fraternal
order of police; and the third ... appointed by the local chamber of
commerce, or if there be none, by a local businessmen's association.
... [or if none] by the other two commissioners ...
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WV Law § 7-14-6. Powers and duties of
commission.
(3) Make investigations, either sitting
as a body or through a single commissioner, concerning all matters
touching the enforcement and effect of the provisions of this article
[promotion, demotion, training] ...
(6) Make an annual report ... and any suggestions
it may have... available for public inspection...
§ 7-14-10. Refusal to examine or certify; review
thereof.
The commission may refuse to ... certify as
eligible one... who has been guilty of infamous or notoriously
disgraceful conduct; ... or who refuses to comply with the rules and
regulations of the commission...
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§8-14-10. Powers, authority and duties of
policemen's civil service commission.(3) Make investigations, either
sitting as a body or through a single commissioner, concerning all matters
touching the enforcement and effect of the civil service provisions of this
article
(5) Make an annual report ... and any suggestions
it may have ... available for public inspection...
§8-14-14. Refusal to examine or certify;
review thereof.
The commission may refuse to ... certify as
eligible one, ... who has been guilty of any
crime or of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct;... or who
refuses to comply with the rules and regulations of the commission.
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§ 7-14-16. Training and retraining programs for
all deputies required. (b) The civil service commission ... shall ...
prescribe retraining programs which every deputy, whether first appointed
such deputy before or after the effective date of this article, must
satisfactorily complete from time to time after the effective date of this
article, in order to continue as a deputy sheriff of such county or to be
eligible for promotion...
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§8-14A-1. Definitions (4) "Hearing
board" means a board appointed to hold a hearing on a complaint against
an accused officer...
(a) For civil service departments, the
department chief shall appoint the first member, the members of the accused
officer's department shall appoint the second member, and the first and
second members shall appoint the third member by agreement...
(2) Each member shall be a police officer
or firefighter within the accused officer''s
department, or, with the department chief''s
approval, a law-enforcement officer or firefighter from another
law-enforcement agency or fire department;
(3) At least one member shall be of the same
rank as the accused officer...
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Fines
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County
728-3233
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Charles Town
725-2311x19 recording
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Ranson
725-2411
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Shepherdstown
876-6036
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Court costs, included in each of the fines
below:
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$100
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$5
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Speeding, depends on speed
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$135-$165
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$145-$175
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$110-$150
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Driving with expired registration or
inspection
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$120
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$130
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$75
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Wrong way on 1-way street
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$145
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$95
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Failure to yield right of way
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$145
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$120
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Last changed
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7/2001
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8/2001
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If you have two or more offenses at once, you only pay
court costs once in the county.
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