composed July 18, 2010:
Ahhh, county Berkeley, and jeepers…who’da thunk? It’s almost August. The charming hamlet of Martinsburg, of which we are within (colloquial term, “pissin’ distance) has booked 3,472
guests at it’s Eastern Regional Jail <
http://easternregionaljail.info/?pageno=1 >. That’s YTD with five months to go until we have reached year‘s end (note date of posting
v. date of composition).
As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population of Martinsburg was 14,972. A 2006 Census estimate placed Martinsburg's entire population at 16,392 for that year <
http://www.boomerater.com/newsurroundings/2472-martinsburg-west-virginia-relocation-retirement-advice >, sooo………growth increased by 1,420 or 11.5 percent from 2000 to 2006. That's at least an additional 1,311 if calculating at only 8-percent growth for the years `06 to present.
Using that formula -- and for a total current population of (approx.) 17,703 -- that
guest-list figure would represent more than 5-percent of all souls in county Berkeley’s crown city of Martinsburg (a.k.a., Hagerstown's
ugly little sister for it‘s drugs, crime and corruption), and who are either currently housed or recently out of the city lock up (and yes there are duplicate
admissions). Check my math if it makes you feel any better. With U.S. Census estimate of county Berkeley’s entire 2008 population at 103,854 <
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/54/54003.html >, and an inmate population at large, it trumps the national U.S. average by 300-percent (754 per 100,000, or roughly .75 percent). This is according to the <
U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics >.
That‘s 300 fricking percent! Bet Martinsburg has more registered sex offenders per city square block than you have where you are (four link limit, LOL), and still more who live in the county burbs. You really can look that up. I guarantee I did.
Yes, I did say
more than three times the national average (quite honestly, I'm not sure I care what that is!). You’ll note that the figures do not include any other forms of incarceration within the state -- Only the city lock-up.
Berkeley county is a
highly subsidized region. This sad little piece of geography will, and in perpetuity as it has ever been, be home to the unemployed, the underemployed, and to an inmate population that, in numbers, likely whips anywhere you have known. Homeless veterans abound. Don’t ask your realtor -- Do your own homework: it is a region of trailer parks, a crappy tax base and not one single hookah parlour (has a spiffy municipal center tho:-p).
Think resale. You wanna retire where?
Just a few facts:
635 combined 2009 (excluding Martinsburg) felony arrests; conversely,
Martinsburg felony arrests = 1,136 (misdemeanor @ 2,454 ); DUI @ 269.
live within earshot of I-81, or within county-seat zip codes, and you will have upped your odds of some form of contact of one of the unsavory lot. Sound like a place for the kiddies? (source: P. 13/50 WV State Police 2009 Annual Report PDF; see table
<
http://www.wvstatepolice.com/annreport/2009annualreport.pdf >.) “Troop 2 made 611 DUI arrests during the 2009 Fiscal Year, which was the most of any Troop within the agency. Troop 2 also had the second highest amount of crash investigations within the Troop at 1612, and the third highest amount of traffic citations for moving violations and “Major and Other Investigations” initiated. “ (ibid;
please refer back to 2009 DUI) Troop #2 jurisdictions include Charlestown, Martinsburg, Berkeley Springs, Romney, Keyser and Moorefield. Nowhere does this factor in arrests made by other than state corrections such as county and/or city. You do the math.
P.S.
Just my .02 and personal (albeit tongue in cheek) observation. It's your money. What you should do is whatever you think you want. If none of this makes an impression, at very least don’t let yourself be sold into an HOA. Most state statutes provide for LESS law enforcement for homes established in these; that is unless you hire your own private force -- And then they will NOT be armed. Keep in mind, HOA guidelines may severely restrict how you may protect yourself and/or YOUR property: I promise you West Virginia is not a bit different regarding these, regardless your tax assessment. Take it from one who knows ……and don’t say I didn’t say so!
C.W.
Berkeley County, WV
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LOL
