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PARKERSBURG - U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia Moore Capito was in the area recently to meet and interact with local law enforcement in what he described as an effort to ensure his office is visible and accessible.
"I am a firm believer that our office needs to be not just a floor in a building somewhere with a bunch of attorneys in it, but rather a part of the community and in the communities," Capito said. "We found that our interactions and our activity with our local partners increases when we come and visit on their turf and understand the issues that are impacting that community.
"We can't paint with a broad brush. With the crimes that occur in the Southern District of West Virginia, we have to take a tailored approach to each and every community. That is why I spend the vast majority of my time on the road."
Capito is traveling around the state as part of a broader effort by the office to strengthen relationships with law enforcement across the state. The office is focusing on stopping illegal drugs from entering the state, violent crimes by ensuring guns are not in the hands of violent people, working to protect children found in abusive situations and more, Capito said.
"Our focus in our office is to create the safest communities that we can in West Virginia," he said. "How we do that is to ensure our law enforcement has the resources they need to conduct thorough investigations."
He wants people to come to West Virginia to enjoy what the state has to offer and work to ensure "the bad actors" are caught and brought to justice as soon as possible.
There are 23 counties in the Southern District. Capito said he has visited all them all and has been in Wood County half-a-dozen times since taking office.
Capito described the Parkersburg and Wood County areas as "a critical interstate point" as a lot of traffic from Ohio and other neighboring counties comes through Parkersburg. Many of the issues happening in the Wood County area are happening across the state in terms of drug trafficking, child abuse, human trafficking, child predators and more.
"Our office is taking a very serious and hardened approach to child predators," he said. "We know they exist in every nook and cranny in West Virginia, and we are making every effort to rid our communities of those dangerous individuals.
"As a father of three small children, nothing frightens me more than child predators who are out there every single day."
Bringing those cases to people's attention helps parents have difficult conversations with their children about protecting themselves, especially with advancements in technology like artificial intelligence, Capito said.
"It is frightening how faceless the enemy is," he said. "We always encourage parents to have those conversations with their children and explain the importance of boundaries, trust their instincts if something makes them feel uncomfortable and go to their parents or a law enforcement officer to tell them."
In many drug-related crimes, there is also a firearm involved. Capito said they are prosecuting that aspect more in addition to the drug charges.
"Folks who are dealing in the drug trade and firearms are a horrible mix," he said. "Most of the times when we find a medium-level dealer there is always a firearm present.
"We will charge and prosecute that to the fullest extent of the law."
Capito is applauding efforts of the Trump administration and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche in dealing with fraud that targets the elderly, another vulnerable population that criminals try to take advantage of, especially online.
"No federal official or federal government instrument will ever ask for personal identifying information," he said. "If you're being asked for your Social Security number or your birth date or being asked for money, hang up the phone and report that call to the police every time.
"We need to be overly cautious and vigilant every time when it comes to elder fraud."
They are also looking at healthcare fraud, especially in drug recovery centers and people trying to defraud the Medicaid/Medicare systems.
Many of their efforts require working with local law enforcement agencies and provide training on the trends in illegal activity they are seeing so local officials can be prepared.
"We want to be proactive in our approach with law enforcement as opposed to reactive. We believe the best way to do that is to keep those lines of communication open, strong and constant," Capito said.
Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.