WVU Police headquarters moves to new location on HSC campus

The West Virginia University Campus Police have found a new, technologically advanced home.

The Campus Police have set up a new headquarters at 992 Elmer Prince Drive, near Ruby Memorial Hospital. The headquarters is equipped with state-of-the-art security and communications center as well as improved facilities for the officers.

The new facility is the first building in Morgantown specifically designed to suit the needs of the University police force, according to Campus Police Captain Rick Jackson.

"The entire first floor of the new facility was reconstructed to expand the capabilities of our communication center," he said. "We have far more capabilities as far as video, alarm monitoring and communication throughout the county."

The new dispatch room features eight large TV screens, and the room is completely secured by bulletproof glass and key card locks. The building also has additional space for evidence lockers, administrative offices, a library of law reference books and a new gym for officers.

The University police have called many places home throughout the years. Campus Police Captain Jim Enoch has seen the police force move seven times in his 35-year career, starting in a house beside the Facilities Management Building and ending up at the new headquarters.

He was grateful to have a building dedicated to the University police force.

"I see a lot of advantages. It’s more personalized; we don’t share with anyone; There is more professionalism within the department and we are awful thankful for the people who made that happen," he said. "It’s really nice to have a place to call home."

The first full operational day in the new building was June 14.

Captain Jackson also believes there are advantages in having an official University Police building accessible to students.

"This is the first time that we have a home of our own that the public can recognize – that we’re not sharing with other departments, or other outside entities – so the public can come straight to our building and they are dealing with only us," he said.

Even though Jackson thought the move would be difficult, the police force took every precaution to maintain records.

"We opened half of our communication center and got it up and running in the new facility and then moved the other half," he said.

The written records were transferred as well. "We brought them over ourselves to maintain the integrity and get it back up and running as we were before," he said.

For more information, visit http://police.wvu.edu. For emergencies call (304)-293-3136 or 911.