In the fall of 1998, I called Fred Dickinson, chief of police of Oak Hill, WV, and asked him what he would do to an officer that was working for him that was not doing his job on several instances but instead out having sex with women (one of whom was my wife).  He said it depended on the circumstances and if it could be proven or not.  The conversation ended up with him stating that if it could be proven, that he would fire the individual officer who was doing it.  He went on to say that if any of his officers were caught lying to him that he would fire them for that infraction also.  

I went to meet with Chief Dickinson the next day.  He told me what would be needed.  The main thing that he wanted was a written statement from my wife addressing my complaint against his officer.  He went on to iterate that if I filed the complaint and it was dismissed, could not be proven etc. that the officer had a right to sue me. He wanted me to know that his officer, RICK EDWARDS, was checking into employment for another nearby city, BECKLEY, WV, for employment as an officer.  My take on it is that he was trying to appease me by letting his officer go to another town for employment, the old "pass the buck" routine.  I took my wife up to meet with Fred Dickinson and she told him the story.  This was still not enough to bring charges apparently against the officer.  I hinted at going directly to city council if my complaint was not addressed.  He said for me to give him a chance to handle the situation.  I took his word for it.  After several days went by, I called the officer's wife,Nancy Edwards, and told her of the situation.  I met her in town. I had brought my wife along.  My wife did not know where we were going at the time.  Wife of suspect, Nancy Edwards, had brought a picture of the police department and  wanted my wife to pick out her husband, as there seems to have been yet another officer going around town, having sex with woman, and using the name of Rick Edwards. ( I am unable to verify this story as it was told to me by wife of suspect, Nancy Edwards). At any rate, my wife was very upset at me taking her to meet with Rick Edwards' wife but she did so.  She was able to pick out Rick in the picture and Nancy Edwards immediately began to cry.  I felt very sorry for her because I knew the hurt she was going through.  She talked with my wife privately for a moment and then went to confront her husband, who was in traffic court that evening.  

From what she told me the next day, at first he tried to deny it out right.  Then he tried to say it was before they were married.  Then she finally got him to admit to it. (or most of it).  She went on to tell me that she and Rick had been married in August 1995.  From the best I can tell, the affair with my wife and Rick started in June/July 1995 and carried on through May/June 1998.  In his own words (as I have him on tape)  they would meet while my wife was working the midnight shift.  On her lunch breaks they would meet, have their fun, then go back to work.  According to my wife, the meetings would sometimes be by chance and sometimes they would be pre-planned.  Their favorite spot for their encounters would be a public school yard by the name of ROSEDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.   Also according to my wife, condoms were used for each encounter. Rick denies buying them, to his wife, but according to my wife, he provided the condoms.  I really don't think that we have received the whole truth on this matter.  I asked my wife what happened to the condoms after the INTENSE encounter was over and she stated that he usually disposed of the condoms by throwing them up on top of the Rosedale Elementary School gymnasium.  At later checking with the school custodian, used condoms have been found on the school gym roof as well as in the school yard where the children play during recess. (YUCK, sounds like a public health hazard to me).  Parents of the Rosedale Elementary School district should know about this as their children were exposed to used condoms. There were also meetings behind abandoned buildings in town etc. as well as many non-sexual meetings throughout various places in town.  

Now back to my complaint.  I decided to call several of the city council members and inform them of my complaint.  I also played a tape for most (if not all) of them.  It was an audio tape of Rick Edwards admitting to the deed while he was working. He goes on to say that it should not have happened, it won't happen again. etc and so forth. An "accident" only happens once in my opinion. Not repeatedly for a period of almost 3 years. I think he just realized it was a mistake after the woman he was cheating with told her husband (me) and a complaint was filed. At any rate, after council heard my story, an executive session was called of the council members.  According to my sources, Fred Dickinson was down playing my complaint and stating that my wife kept changing her story.  This was not the case, however, and I nor my wife were there to be able to truly tell the story.  My wife never changed her story. Fred Dickinson was not telling the truth if this is what he conveyed to the council members. At any rate a while later, I was told that the officer had been suspended for two weeks and was reduced in rank by one level.  I was shown a hand-written statement given by Rick Edwards, admitting to the fact that he was doing this and would face any punishment deemed appropriate. It was a couple of weeks after this that I found out that my original complaint had been thrown out.  Apparently all of the rules had not been followed by Dickinson which allowed the punishment to be voided.  All I was told was that the board of peers (which officer Edwards agreed to bypass) would be needed to rule on my complaint. Numerous reschedules and delays later, a hearing was held in which my wife and I were called as witnesses.  A lot of questions about my complaint where asked.  Including a question as to whether I forced my wife to write the statement or not etc.  There was a lot of discussion and warning about me confronting the officer and statements to the effect that I would be in put in jail etc......  I told the "Board of Peers" that I had audio tape of his admission.  They did not want to listen to it.  My wife was asked questions about how did she know he was on duty, etc.  To me, if someone is in a marked police cruiser, in uniform, and police radio on, the guy is usually on duty, especially at 2 to 4 am in the morning.  After months of waiting A decision was made by the board that Chief Dickinson did not follow procedure when investigating the incident.

This is such bull.  If you ask someone did if they did it, they admitted to it (even in writing) then you should be able to administer punishment. Oh well. Guess they must have missed that fact.  I was told about one month after the fact by the chief that the charges were dismissed but he said he would appeal it.  

The appeal happened about 2 to 3 months later.  In the meantime, I called Dickinson, almost on a biweekly basis to keep a check on the situation.  He never once called me to inform me of what happened.  At any rate, some time in Dec 1999 the Civil Service Commission for the city of Oak Hill decided to dismiss the charges against the officer.  I have not received written answer or copy of the dismissal, which by the way I was supposed to get, from the chief.  I guess they think I will just go away now.  I may not get the answers I want or the punishment which he deserves but I can have a little fun myself by writing these little expose' type stories about their antics.  There has been two murders that I know of in the wee hours of the morning since I have filed my complaint.  I guess they just need to hire more officers (which they have done)  in order to cover for the ones that are off having sex when they should be working.

I forgot to mention the fact that Chief Dickinson opened up personal files on some of the officers, showing me that he does discipline his officers.  This happened when I started to question his sincerity about wanting to resolve this matter.  One of the files that sticks out in my mind is  on Officer Akers.  It was to the effect that he got a suspension for being involved in an accident that involved alcohol.  The officer was given a 3 day suspension( to the best of my memory) but was able to turn in vacation time for the suspension so he would not lose any pay.  (Man that sounds like a cush-cush punishment to me).  I think some of the other officers might take offense to the fact that Chief Dickinson made their private personnel files available for my viewing but again it may be that buddy system thing working again.  Also, according to my sources, Chief Dickinson was just worried about conveying the fact that "It didn't happen on my  watch" to city council. I do want to thank Larry Harding and Orville Thomas, who were on City Council at that time, for doing the right thing and recommending that the offending officer be terminated.

I tried to make this a matter of public knowledge but have been shut down by the system other than word of mouth.  The internet does offer a potential for a large audience.  I do think that this is a story that should be known by the citizens of Oak Hill. After all, its their dollars that goes to paying for the officer, council, etc.  I find it ironic that the city, in a sense, is "pimping out" so to speak, its employees.  After all they did pay at least one officer while he was having sex with my wife.

We all have secrets.  I guess it all just depends on how hard some one else wants to hide secrets and how hard some one is willing to work to find out these secrets (right FRED?).  There have been many, many, rumors and stories surrounding the Oak Hill Police Department and all of the crap they dish out to citizens.  An amazingly high number dealing with sex, courting, cheating and the like.  If there was ever a need for a police chief that could keep the pants up on his officers, this is one.  Someday, there may be enough people to stand up and say "Enough is enough.....We want better!"  Until then, there will be many people that have to put up with this small town BS from the powers that be.