FAQs
How do I find out who towed my vehicle?
-Call 304-267-7000 with the vehicle information, date of tow, and location it was towed from, then we can advise you what company towed the vehicle.
Am I required to register my firearms with law enforcement in West Virginia?
-West Virginia does not require firearms registration.
How do I file an “online report”?
-Scroll to the bottom of any page under the BCSD heading, they all include the button in the footer to direct you to file an online report. The button can also be found at the top of the Services page. This option is available for select report types only.
Does your department offer Ride-alongs?
-For safety of all parties we no longer offer ride-alongs.
Are their internship opportunities available with your department?
-A few internships are available for college students over 18 years of age earning credits each semester. Please contact the department at 304-267-7000 to learn about our current availability.
How can I request a deputy for a school visit or a community event?
-Please email the Sheriff’s Assistant at bsullivan@berkeleywv.org, she schedules all events and maintains the calendar for our department.
What happens to forfeited money?
-Seized money that is taken as part of an investigation or a suspected crime becomes forfeiture money once a crime is successfully prosecuted. A portion of the money is retained by the prosecuting attorney’s office and the remainder can be used by the department under strict guidelines; for example used to fund the costs of complex investigations, or providing additional technical equipment or expertise. These funds cannot be used for salaries, general supplies, uniforms or other common operation costs.
Why can I not hear the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department radio traffic on my scanner?
-Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department PATC Encryption
Currently, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department initial dispatch for rotational calls are divided between the West Virginia State Police and the Sheriff’s Dept. When dispatched over the BCSO channel which is unencrypted and available to scanner listeners.
At the point the call is determined to be dispatched to the Sheriff’s Department, the subsequent radio transmissions are moved to PATC1, which is an encrypted channel.
- West Virginia Statewide Interoperable Radio Network (SIRN) https://sirn.wv.gov/
- Encryption
- 3. Encryption
- c. Dispatch Channels are not permitted to be encrypted in any way. However a Dispatch Center is permitted to have secondary talk groups available for transmitting information in a secure transmission.
- 3. Encryption
- Encryption
The information transmitted by both Sheriff’s Dept. Personnel and Berkeley County Emergency Dispatch Personnel falls under the Criminal Justice Information services (CJIS), which is the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for compliance monitoring. The information that is most often transmitted between the agencies contains CJIS or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) which is prohibited from being released to the general public.
The purpose of utilizing an Encrypted Channel for this type of interaction is to protect the information of individuals from being transmitted over an open frequency and possibly breaching the rules of CJIS or PII. The alternative to this would be to physically contact the dispatch center by phone. This would cause a strain to the already busy dispatch center in addition to adding additional time it would take to relay the information causing extended call times and cause law enforcement to utilize cellular phones to receive the information.