| A State Police trooper formerly assigned to the Charles Town detachment
has been given a suspension by the agency, related to problems with a
domestic violence response in Jefferson County.
Trooper Fred Hammack, Jr., now assigned to the Grantsville Detachment,
has been given five days suspension by the agency because of the way he
and two other troopers responded to the domestic call. Trooper Mike Cole
was suspended 30 days and Trooper Richard Shockey was suspended ten
days.
Trooper Cole had been on administrative leave for five months before
receiving the suspension.
Lt. Col. Carl White of the State Police said the officers are appealing, and he
can't disclose any details of the case. The suspensions will not be effective
while the appeal process is in progress.
Assistant Prosecutor Bernice Weinstein, who handled the domestic case in
Charles Town, reportedly said the State Police's legal counsel wanted all the
charges dropped in the case, but she felt they were "perfectly good cases."
In a separate investigation at the Charles Town detachment, the State
Police's Internal Affairs did not sustain charges against the detachment officers
who were charged with removing campaign signs belonging to Delegate
Larry Faircloth.
Delegate Faircloth has led the movement to establish a State Police civilian
review board, eliminating the current blue-on-blue process.
Faircloth's signs ended-up behind the State Police barracks. The
investigation concluded no one in the detachment removed the signs and
that other area police officers reportedly committed the act. They indicated
it was a joke against Trooper Pansch, who had shot Faircloth's son's dog in
another incident.
Pansch was given a fifteen day suspension for failing to disclose to
investigators information relating to the campaign signs.
A professional misconduct complaint has been filed against Trooper
Hammack in Calhoun County by The Hur Herald, regarding the Trooper's
attempt to ban The Herald from accident scenes.
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