Looks like there's all sorts of skullduggery and shenanigans going on in West Virginia. It started with this report a couple of weeks ago.
An Eyewitness News investigation over the past several months has revealed alleged wrongdoing by members of the West Virginia State Police.
Some of the allegations being leveled are shocking, ranging from the misuse of federal and state dollars, using ghost accounts tapping public money for secret unauthorized personal purchases, high-level staffers engaging in inappropriate behavior in state offices and vehicles and illegal overtime practices resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent payments.
Eyewitness News received a letter about six months ago from an anonymous source claiming to work for the State Police. The author didn’t sign the correspondence because of fear of retaliation by the agency.
Due to the wide range of allegations and the specific details concerning them we have been digging into the claims.
Because of new developments over the last couple of days, Eyewitness News decided the time is to right to let you know what we know, with the warning that an official internal investigation launched last year by Gov. Jim Justice is not quite finished.
After receiving the letter, Eyewitness News Lead Investigative Reporter Kennie Bass met with the governor and went through the accusations line by line. The administration immediately began an internal investigation.
. . .
In addition to Eyewitness News and the Justice administration, the West Virginia Senate is now in the loop, having received copies of the letter Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning, Eyewitness News spoke to a key senator involved with oversight and investigations who said lawmakers are very interested in the letter's contents and taking a closer look at the allegations.
There's more at the link.
Now a lawyer has weighed in with news of more whistleblower letters and allegations, plus the arrest of one whistleblower on what appear to be trumped-up charges. Looks like the guilty parties are trying to cover their tracks any way they can.
A couple weeks ago I released an anonymous whistleblower letter from a state trooper, making specific allegations against the top leadership. I had no idea this would happen, but apparently that kicked off what is essentially a civil war inside the West Virginia State Police that seems to have been brewing. Since my first video on this with the whistleblower’s allegations, that whistleblower has been arrested. His lawyer is alleging a coverup conspiracy going all the way to the top of the state police.
Now, more breaking news, as of last night it was revealed that the Governor has ordered the seizure of the cell phones and electronic data of almost all the top leadership at the state police. Crazy, crazy stuff. This is big. People should know about this, because the implications are enormous.
Again, more at the link, including some very interesting video reports about the situation.
Can any readers in West Virginia tell us more about what's going on? If so, please leave a comment with as many details as you can provide. This promises to be better than the average soap opera in terms of entertainment value.
Peter
11 comments:
Wow... I didn't expect this from West Virginia!
Sadly, this is not unique to W VA.
The Thin Blue Line protects itself and the brotherhood. the whistleblowers are indeed booted and persecuted/prosecuted, go silent to avoid the harassment, or quit. How many incidents does it take in a town before no one - not one- person trusts those who are supposed to do their job under the rule of law due to this type of stuff?
Their job is bad enough, dealing with really bad stuff sometimes, but is it so bad they can't police themselves?
Lost respect for LEO long ago.Crooked sheriffs will do that to you.
Two friends of mine that I grew up with became cops. Listening to their stories over the last 25 years, or so has been enlightening, to say the least. Most of the horror stories that we hear about involve what are known as "hooks" which is a slang term for someone who has a political contact way high up on the food chain. This hook usually gets them the job in the first place. Sometimes the hired person gets the job the old fashioned way and sometimes their hook makes a phone call and makes sure they get the job.
Sometimes the hired actually go out do the job like everyone else and sometimes they sham and in many cases, simply don't do anything, even when it's go-time. One guy they told me about got the job because his mommy was the mayor of the town and made sure her little angel got hired. I was told by them that this guy would show up at a job just long enough for another cop to arrive and then take off when the 2nd cop wasn't looking because he was a coward. The coward was always first in line for overtime details and the first to call out sick when there was bad weather.
My buddies complained to their PBA and found out the hard way that they were not going to besmirch mommy's little boy and get away with it. Word got back to her about the grumblings and both of my buddies paid the price; one was skipped over for promotion to Sargent and the other was taken off the list for detective selection. After many years of this happening, they had to take the mayor's kid off the street and put him at a desk job. He had to retire when she finally lost a re-election bid, but the damage done was severe, lots of pissed off street cops!
I always asked them why they put up with it and always got told the same thing, I have a mortgage to pay, I have a three year old and twins on the way, My father is going into an assisted living facility and my mother can't cover the expenses on her own. Everyday shit faced just like everyone else. Cops love to talk and whenever something blows up in the news - like the guy who got beat to death a few weeks ago - the truth always turns up in their circles. In this case, almost all of the five that were charged in that death should never have been hired in the first place, but quality people will not take the job now, so municipalities are forced to hire what's left. In fact, they both told me that out of all of these incidents over the last ten years, almost to a person, the problem cop should never have been hired, but strings were pulled so they could get the job.
Of course when things go sideways, those who pulled the strings are never available for comment. Your mileage may vary.
My neighbor is WVSP. I'll ask him next time I see him.
Off topic Peter but very disturbing as I've read various versions of this story all over the financial news.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/the-government-may-stohome%20cleaning%20p-issuing-social-security-payments-after-the-debt-limit-is-hit-here-s-why/ar-AA18tC8j
End stage Governmental actions here like South Africa. While they are trying to lay it on the Republicans for saying no debt ceiling increase without real spending cuts, the facts are the USA is BROKE.
Blaming the Republicans is like blaming a fever for the disease.
We are living in a country where ethnicity is more important than competence. We need to establish a “level playing field.” This can easily be accomplished in all hiring endeavors, as well as colleges and universities, by establishing a numerical system for all applicants. Get rid of names, race, and all gender indicators. Only then will we be sure that we have the “best and the brightest.”
Too many special interest groups, though, so it will never happen.
What can't go on forever, won't.
YouTube is exposing bad policing all over the country, but West Virginia is over the top with bad cops in towns, Sheriff's departments, and now the State Police. This video lays it out pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WM8UtxdEQE
It is endemic. Nobody trusts the police, or any shred of the justice dept.
I remember when I was younger not understanding why the city folks, lets call em, would never, EVER work with the police. You complain about the violence but nobody gives up a name when there is a shooting (and everybody knows whodunnit). Yet still, police have no leads, and they complain nobody in the neighborhood will tell them Pookie shot Tenarious over a street corner..
And now I get it. Now I understand why some people never ever say anything, even going so far as to leave the party, if a cop is in attendance (off duty).
Winner winner chicken dinner.
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