NORTH PRESTON AREA WATCHNPAW

Bruceton Mills, WV26525

Meeting Description NPAW Monthly Community Meeting

Results Desired Discuss issues affecting our Crime Watch Areas

Date _April25, 2009______Time 7:00 PM Location North Preston Senior Center

Scheduled Time / Actual Time
Start / Start / Stop
7:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. / 8:45 p.m.
Officers Present: / 57 Members Present
President Ken Chidester
Vice President Bob Walsh / Guests of Note:
Treasurer Jeanie Walsh / Prosecuting Attorney Mel Snyder
Secretary/Webmaster Susan Fearer / County Commissioner Vicki Cole
Parliamentarian Denny Hannold / Lt. Joe Stiles
Attorney Brent Van Deysen
Brent Crogan, Assistant Warden, Hazelton Penitentiary
Rod Myers, Executive Assistant, Hazelton Penitentiary
MEETING NOTES
The North Preston Area Watch meeting was held April25, 2009 at the NorthPrestonSeniorCenter and was opened by the
Lords Prayer. We then were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by our President Ken Chidester.
Old Business:
The meeting minutes from our March meeting were read and accepted with no changes or additions.
Treasurer’s Report:
Treasurer Jeanie Walsh reported that our account had a beginning balance of $410.78 and an ending balance of $310.78
after the purchase of our new brochures.
New Business:
None
A few updates on current and past crimes was given by Lt. Stiles;
- The investigation into the bank robbery at the local Wesbanco branch is ongoing.
- The Sheriff’s office has received several calls on the composite drawing of the attempted abductor in Brandonville.
- The Pleasant Day Holiness Camp on Rt. 26 was broken into on sometime between 2/10/09 and 4/5/09 and a 2004 red Honda
350 ER Rancher 2-wheel drive 4-wheeler was stolen. Some distinguishing marks on the 4-wheeler include the left side front
brush guard was bent; the plastic cover on the digital odometer was cracked; the seat was torn; it has less than 4,000 miles.
Also stolen from the camp were 3 refrigerators, 1 freezer and 1 dishwasher. A small caliber shell casing was found close to
where the 4-wheeler was located. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s office.
President Chidester then introduced our guest speakers for the evening, Assistant Warden Brent Crogan and Executive Assistant
Rod Myers, both from the Federal Penitentiary at Hazelton. They said that currently there are 3 prisons that make up the Hazelton
campus – a high-security penitentiary for men housing 1,600 – 1,700 inmates; a minimum security “camp” for men housing 100 -
125 inmates; and a female facility housing 500 – 600 inmates. Opening in September is a medium security male facility to house
1,500 inmates. The entire campus now employees approximately 500 and anticipate an additional 200 staff will be needed within
the next 2 – 2 ½ years. Applicants are encouraged to apply via USAJobs.gov keeping in mind that the maximum age to apply is
37 years old. They went on to say that 13% of those inmates in the penitentiary are serving life sentences and fully half of
those are considered violent. Also mentioned was the “Paws for Prisoners” program that the female inmates and those males
in the minimum security camp participate in to train dogs to be service animals. A brief question and answer session followed the
Presentation. Some of the questions were:
Q. Does the gang activity at the prison get investigated? A. Yes, and Mel Snyder sits on the Community Committee.
Q. Do drugs get into the prison? A. Sometimes, but they work had to avoid it.
Q. Where are inmates released when their sentence is completed? A. They are released wherever they came from.
Q. Does the community utilize any of the inmates on work release? A. Yes, they just put a roof on the Liberty Church of God.
Q. Do family members of gangs live in our area? A. Not really – these people are used to city life not country living.
Q. Are visitors checked out before they can visit an inmate? A. Yes, each and every visitor must be checked out beforehand.
Q. Will the Hazelton prison get any of the Gitmo prisoners? A. Probably not because only CONVICTED prisoners are here.
Q. Is more land being bought? A. Not at this time; we currently own 982 acres.
Q. Do inmates work? A. All inmates have jobs of some sort.
Q. Do inmates have access to the internet in prison? A. No. And all incoming mail is read before being given to a prisoner.
Q. How high is the turnover of wardens? A. There have been 3 wardens in 4 years.
One final issue was raised by Mel Snyder. The newly formed Drug Court began today (April 25) with 4 attendees.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Reminders:
  • VFW holds their monthly fish fry on the first Friday of each month from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

  • VFW holds Bingo on the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month which begins at 6:30 p.m...

Our next meeting will be May 28, 2009, at the NorthPrestonSeniorCenter and begins at 7:00 p.m. The speaker is going to be
Gary Deel of SecureUS Home Security Company. Please plan to attend this very informative meeting.

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