Published October 1993 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd West Virginia Identified As Low-Crime Leader
For the twentieth year in a row, West Virginia has achieved the distinction of having the nation's lowest overall crime rate. West Virginians should take pride in the fact that for two decades our state has been recognized nationally as America's most crime-free place in which to live, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This distinction has been one of the factors-coupled with our talented work force, low cost of living, and outstanding quality of life--that I have used to help promote West Virginia to federal agencies as a location for some of their operations. Interestingly, the lowest crime state in the nation will soon be home to a federal facility that promises to revolutionize the national war against crime--the FBI's Fingerprint Identification Division, now under construction in Harrison County. As this new facility takes shape on the Clarksburg horizon--being developed with the more than $400 million that I have obtained in federal funding bills since 1989--I am thinking ahead to the day when the building will be ready for the installation of the heart and arteries of the identification division: the technologically advanced computer network that will modernize the way that law enforcement personnel track criminals. For that reason, I sought $84.4 million in federal funding this year for the development of the equipment and programming that will give crime fighters nearly instant access to criminal identification information, and I am pleased to report that this funding was included in a bill that has received final congressional approval and has been signed into law. When completed and fully occupied, the Identification Division's new complex, according to the FBI, will house approximately 2,500 employees--50 percent of whom are expected to be West Virginians--with an annual estimated impact on the economy of North Central West Virginia of roughly $75 million. Already, the FBI is operating two satellite facilities in Clarksburg and Fairmont which are staffed by more than 350 employees, of whom about 285 have been hired locally. The main complex will be completed in mid-1995, according to FBI estimates. With all West Virginians, I anticipate that completion with enthusiasm, and I look forward to the numerous contributions that the FBI's Identification Division and its employees will make to West Virginia's economy, culture, and community life in the years ahead. October 27, 1993