Gov. Manchin commissions new report
Officials at the West Virginia State Police Academy are reviewing the recommendations in a report commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin after a student at the academy was knocked unconscious and got a blood clot in his brain during training in April.
Officials at the West Virginia State Police Academy are reviewing the recommendations in a report commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin after a student at the academy was knocked unconscious and got a blood clot in his brain during training in April.
"We are moving forward in implementing some of those," State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said. "We constantly update and review the curriculum and confer with the law enforcement subcommittee about training issues and we're taking the recommendations in the report under advisement."
The report suggests are reviewing the entire training curriculum for the academy, altering the baton training -- the activity where the cadet was injured -- and videotaping the training, among other recommendations.
"We're always open to new ideas to make it more effective and efficient and to ultimately ensure a safer environment for our cadets and basic officers," Baylous said.
On April 5, Princeton police officer Christopher Winkler participated in required baton training where two instructors acted as assailants. During the training, Winkler was knocked unconscious.
Winkler's mother, Pamela McPeak, said an instructor told her that he saved Winkler's life by pulling two other instructors off Winkler when they continued to beat him while he was unconscious.
Kanawha County prosecutor Mark Plants requested a second investigation into the incident. Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Dan Holstein contacted the Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations, which he said agreed to look into the incident.
Plants said Friday that he is still waiting on the commission's report. He said he wanted the commission to do the investigation because they were independent of the State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
"It's taken longer than expected. We do expect it shortly," he said. "Then it'll be just like anything else. We'll look at the evidence, review the witness statements and determine whether there is probable cause to bring charges."
According to McPeak, her son was singled out by several of the training officers at the academy.
The Manchin-commissioned investigation could not determine whether the blood clot sustained happened or did not happen during the training incident where he was knocked unconscious.
The report also describes an incident before the baton training where Winkler suffered blows to the head -- a boxing exercise with State Police Sgt. Rob Petry. The training instructor told the commission that he hit Winkler with "glancing blows." Winkler said he received two black eyes and a concussion and that most of the blows were to his head.
The report commissioned by Manchin was created by a four-person panel headed by Ivin B. Lee, director of the state Human Rights Commission and a member of the Law Enforcement Training Subcommittee. It interviewed nine people, including Winkler, several State Police troopers involved in the training and Princeton Police Chief William Roper. It did not interview more than 45 other students in Winkler's class.
Officials at the West Virginia State Police Academy are reviewing the recommendations in a report commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin after a student at the academy was knocked unconscious and got a blood clot in his brain during training in April.
"We are moving forward in implementing some of those," State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said. "We constantly update and review the curriculum and confer with the law enforcement subcommittee about training issues and we're taking the recommendations in the report under advisement."
The report suggests are reviewing the entire training curriculum for the academy, altering the baton training -- the activity where the cadet was injured -- and videotaping the training, among other recommendations.
"We're always open to new ideas to make it more effective and efficient and to ultimately ensure a safer environment for our cadets and basic officers," Baylous said.
On April 5, Princeton police officer Christopher Winkler participated in required baton training where two instructors acted as assailants. During the training, Winkler was knocked unconscious.
Winkler's mother, Pamela McPeak, said an instructor told her that he saved Winkler's life by pulling two other instructors off Winkler when they continued to beat him while he was unconscious.
Kanawha County prosecutor Mark Plants requested a second investigation into the incident. Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Dan Holstein contacted the Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations, which he said agreed to look into the incident.
Plants said Friday that he is still waiting on the commission's report. He said he wanted the commission to do the investigation because they were independent of the State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
"It's taken longer than expected. We do expect it shortly," he said. "Then it'll be just like anything else. We'll look at the evidence, review the witness statements and determine whether there is probable cause to bring charges."
According to McPeak, her son was singled out by several of the training officers at the academy.
The Manchin-commissioned investigation could not determine whether the blood clot sustained happened or did not happen during the training incident where he was knocked unconscious.
The report also describes an incident before the baton training where Winkler suffered blows to the head -- a boxing exercise with State Police Sgt. Rob Petry. The training instructor told the commission that he hit Winkler with "glancing blows." Winkler said he received two black eyes and a concussion and that most of the blows were to his head.
The report commissioned by Manchin was created by a four-person panel headed by Ivin B. Lee, director of the state Human Rights Commission and a member of the Law Enforcement Training Subcommittee. It interviewed nine people, including Winkler, several State Police troopers involved in the training and Princeton Police Chief William Roper. It did not interview more than 45 other students in Winkler's class.
Winkler told the commission he didn't remember everything that happened during the baton training. He said that when he hit the instructors attacking him, they didn't get down on one knee as they told him they would. Winkler said they continued to attack him when he dropped his mouthpiece and when he said that he was unable to see.
According to the report, Winkler was given the code word "Timmy" to say if he needed the exercise to stop. Although his mouthpiece fell out and he said he couldn't see, he never said the word "Timmy."
The report says that other witnesses' statements to the incident were the same as Winkler's account. It also concluded that the participating West Virginia State Police Academy personnel "generally operated within the currently established procedures for conducting the training activity in which ... Winkler participated."
In its conclusion the report found no compelling reason to limit or eliminate the self-defense training.
In addition to changes at the academy, the report recommended the governor issue an executive order or sponsor legislation that would:
Change the makeup of the Law Enforcement Training Subcommittee to include two members who are not currently affiliated with law enforcement at the state or federal level.
Restrict the position of chair of the committee to exclude the committee's representative from the State Police.
Better define the subcommittee's role in overseeing and establishing the academy's curriculum.
Reach Gary Harki at gha...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
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