Wood County warrant sweep ends in 11 arrests

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) -

Wood County law enforcement agencies worked together over the weekend to conduct a warrant sweep that ended with 11 arrests.

Local law enforcement came together over the weekend to fight crime in Wood County all part of an effort to serve warrants of people who haven’t appeared for court.

Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure says officers from different agencies to find the warrants they wanted to bring to bring in.

Parkersburg’s Chief of Police Matthew Board said the cooperation between agencies is important for the sweeps to be successful.

“With agencies working together and coordinating makes it like a larger agency because that flow of communication. We can feed off of what the Sheriff’s department or Vienna has; They can feed off of what Parkersburg has, Williamstown the same. [It] makes for a more cohesive environment to try to snuff out problems and find problems and correct them more expeditiously.”

Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard said the collaboration gets more officers on the streets.

“I think to do that really enhances our visibility in the community and lets the folks out here know that we’re just not sitting idly by and watching crimes be committed in our area.”

Lefebure also explained the positive impact this can have on the community.

“I think it’s important to show to the community that we are working together. All of law enforcement is coming together. We are wanting to hold these individuals accountable. If you’re not going to appear in court or if you’re going to continue to commit crime, these officers are going to go out and look for you.”

Williamstown’s Chief of Police Sean Graham said he sees more joint ventures like this in the future.

“I foresee more of this type of activity in the future. We like having the departments work together, we like the interaction, we like the information sharing, and there’s so many positives that come out of these activities I would expect to see more. We all realize it’s better for all of our respective communities to be working together, not just saying it, but doing it.”

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