photo by: Eric Ayres
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger speaks before members of Wheeling City Council on Tuesday night in support of the purchase of a new cell phone analysis system that will help local law enforcement officials to quickly obtain data in drug investigations, including fatal overdose investigations.
The Wheeling Police Department saw some of its lowest crime rates in the past decade in 2024, namely in drug offenses.
According to data released Wednesday, the department saw crime numbers decrease across the board and calls for service go down 4%, a drop on par with a decade-long fall in calls. But perhaps the most significant decrease was 20% fewer drug-related offenses in 2024. The WPD also saw 37% fewer overdoses with 114 reported total – the lowest in seven years.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said that, while there are many contributing factors, he feels the Crisis Response Unit introduced in May has played a role in the lower numbers.
“I can’t help but think that the embedded peers and the mental health unit, the Crisis Response Unit, is clearly making an impact there,” he said.
Deaths caused by overdoses went down 46% in 2024, but this number has fluctuated greatly in recent years. Annual overdose deaths went from 28 in 2021 to 11 in 2022 and back up to 26 in 2023 before falling to 14 in 2024.
The prevalence of fentanyl and other deadly substances that opioids are commonly cut with is a large factor in these numbers, Schwertfeger said.
Many crimes also go hand-in-hand, like drug users committing theft and burglaries in order to fund their addiction, Schwertfeger explained. Larceny and theft went down 15% in 2024, while motor vehicle theft went down 13% and burglary went down 4%.
The declining crime numbers can be tied to support staff like the department’s crisis unit and crime analyst, diligent work by officers and evolving approaches to policing, Schwertfeger said.
“When I was a young police officer, we didn’t have Crisis Response Units and we didn’t have victim advocates and we didn’t necessarily have crime analysts,” he said. “You went to a call, you made sure nobody was killing each other and then you went on to the next call.”
Now, there is an emphasis on case management. Though officers still make arrests, a number that did not fluctuate much from 2023 to 2024, they also utilize diversion techniques, like employing the crisis response team to help drug users get treatment.
“We’re not just putting on a band-aid and leaving. We’re trying to look for long-term solutions,” he said. “It’s not just about making sure your officers are well equipped to deal with a crisis but you’re also looking out for your community.”
Another way the WPD does this is geographic policing, Schwertfeger said. Officers are responsible for patrolling a certain area of town and find ways to address specific issues when they come up. This strategy was utilized in a targeted special drug operation in East Wheeling over the summer, which resulted in a 75% decrease in overdoses in the neighborhood.
Downturns in some smaller crimes, like a 26% decrease in traffic violations, can be attributed to environmental changes like less construction on the interstates and downtown, Schwertfeger said.
Going forward, Schwertfeger said he hopes to keep instilling in officers the importance of working closely with the Crisis Response Unit.
Wheeling citizens can also expect more focus on traffic enforcement in the future. Though DUI arrests went down from 64 in 2023 to 36 in 2024, Schwertfeger wants to put more resources toward combating impaired driving, something he said is an ongoing issue in the Ohio Valley.
Schwertfeger said he is incredibly proud of the Wheeling Police Department and everyone involved with the decrease in crime. But there is always more work to be done.
“We can’t just celebrate, pat ourselves on the back and not continue to put the pedal down,” he said. “We need to double down and make sure that we can try to get those numbers to continue to decrease and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”