WSAZ-TV 3
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More West Virginia State Troopers have resigned in two of the three years Colonel Dave Lemmon has served as superintendent than in any other single year in the last decade, statistics show.
Through the Freedom of Information Act, WSAZ obtained employment information from the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) for the last 10 years (1997-2007). WSAZ filed the request after allegations were made about the current administration in the public comment section of WSAZ.com following the suicide of Corporal Marlo Gonzales.
The data shows a surge of resignations starting in 2005, the year Governor Joe Manchin appointed Colonel Lemmon superintendent.
Nineteen troopers resigned that year, the highest in a ten year period from 1997 to 2007. 2007 has been the second highest year for resignations in this period with 17 so far this year.
Three happened after July 17th, the day Corporal Gonzales died.
No troopers were fired in the three years leading up to Lemmon's appointment; but since 2005, eight troopers have been terminated -- more than a third of all fired in the 1997 to 2007 time period.
The most troopers fired in a single year since 1997 was in 2001 when six troopers were terminated.
In 2003, the state police lost the most amount of average experience, according to the data supplied by the WVSP.
Troopers who resigned that year had an average of more than seven years with the agency. The lowest amount of average experience was 4.24 years in 2004.
The two troopers terminated this year each had more than 17 years on the job. The next most experienced trooper fired had a little more than three years experience.
The information WSAZ received does not specify why each trooper resigned or was terminated.
WSAZ also requested the number of transfers between all detachments in the state for the last decade, but the WVSP says there is no specific record kept of those. However, since July 18th, there has been one permanent transfer and two temporary transfers.
Since Gonzales' suicide, Governor Joe Manchin called for the creation of a team to study trooper suicides.
The four person group will look at the policies in place that deal with apparent and hidden behavioral health issues. They will also look at what other states with similar state police configurations do with regard to suicides.
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