The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The state Division of Highways is finalizing details on a program to train its 63 weight enforcement officers to carry semiautomatic handguns.
The Legislature authorized the guns this session and required that the inspectors receive training from the State Police. The first 122-hour sessions could occur by October, said Cam Lewis, the division’s director of enforcement.
“It’s going to take a while,” he said of the training. “We’re not just going to hand them a gun.”
Several inspectors have said they don’t want to carry a gun on patrol because they are close to retirement and don’t want to take the four-week training course, Lewis said.
New inspectors will be required to take the course.
Weight inspectors monitor commercial traffic at weigh stations and while on road patrol.
Inspectors have the authority to arrest suspected drunken drivers, but haven’t because they were not armed. Inspectors also have had problems during night patrols, he said.
The agency intends to spend about $60,000 to equip and train its inspectors, Lewis said.