Published: January 09, 2009 11:20 am      

PPD fully staffed, ready to serve

PRINCETON — After months of testing potential candidates, Princeton Police Chief W.L. Harman announced Wednesday that the Princeton Police Department is once again fully staffed.

Harman said he hired an officer for the final vacancy Dec. 26, 2008. Three years ago, PPD’s ranks decreased to 14 officers, but thanks to continuous recruitment efforts, Harman has filled six positions since 2005.

That doesn’t mean the work is over. One of the department’s officers, Ptlm. J.S. Bish, is currently serving active duty with the West Virginia National Guard while another Ptlm. E.T. Pugh, completes 13-week training in the West Virginia State Police Academy.

Meanwhile, both the city police department and Princeton Fire Department are reviewing plans for a random drug-testing policy. Both proposals would be part of revised standard operating procedures.

Prior to the City Council Public Safety Committee meeting Wednesday, PFD Chief Shawn Vest said the drug-testing policy would require anyone who tested positive for illegal drugs or refused to take a test to submit to substance-abuse counseling. He recommended tougher penalties, given the nature of firefighters’ jobs. He requested the committee approve a plan that would allow the termination of someone testing positive or refusing to submit to a test, provided the circumstances were in accordance with Civil Service Code provisions.

“This is not a job where you can have somebody drinking or taking drugs” on the job, Vest said. “... There are other lives and families involved.”

The City of Princeton already has a drug-free workplace policy in place for all city employees, and Vest said anyone who steps forward and expresses a need for drug counseling will receive services paid for by the city. Therefore, he said there is no legitimate excuse for anyone to fail a drug test or refuse to take a test.

City Attorney Paul Cassell said the presumptive penalty for failure or refusal was really more a policy issue than a legal one, given the safety-sensitive nature of police and fire jobs.

The PPD policy was still in the works Wednesday, and Harman said he expected the entire standard operating practices manual to be ready for review in February. The PFD policy proposal will go up for discussion and a vote before full council Monday night.

In other action, the Public Safety Committee recommended renaming Vine Street inside the city Joe Adams Avenue.

Mercer County 911 Com-munications Center Director Bobby Hoge recommended the name change based on a resident’s request to rename it DJS Avenue and because there is a Vine Street located just outside city limits off of Oakvale Road.

“We have a Vine Street inside the city, and we have a Vine Street outside the city,” Vest explained. “Sometimes, there’s some confusion when responding to emergencies.”

City officials have repeatedly attempted to contact a business owner on Princeton’s Vine Street to ensure that the name change would not cause hardship to the business, but they have reportedly been unsuccessful in getting a response of any kind.

Therefore, committee members recommended renaming the street Joe Adams Avenue in honor of its namesake, Joe Adams, who worked more than 50 years as a nurse ad Princeton Memorial and Princeton Community hospitals, founded the New Century Methodist Church and acted as a local civil rights and NAACP leader locally.

Princeton City Council will formally vote on the motion Monday during its meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m. inside Princeton Municipal Building on Courthouse Road.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.