Summers County is preparing to welcome a new sheriff. After a long campaign, Sheriff-elect Justin Faris is set to take office in the new year. Every new leadership comes with some inevitable changes. Get to know the new sheriff and what he is planning for the community before he takes office.
Faris has been a police officer in Princeton WV for the last eight years. Before that, he was a military police officer with the U.S. Army. He began his journey as a police officer in large part because of his father who was a military police officer. He also cites his time as a peer mediator at Pikeview high school as part of the Natural Helper program. This program involved mediating fights and disputes between other students. He says it was during this time that he “really felt like I was gifted at that line of work”. He also states that he has always felt a desire to help people.
His interest in running for sheriff of Summers County began due to his history in narcotic task forces. He states that he “didn’t feel like there was enough being done to go after the drug dealers and make sure they’re being punished to the fullest extent of the law”. He also states that he wants to make the county better and safer for his wife and their three children.
Faris wants citizens of the county to know that there will be some changes coming when he takes office on January 1, 2021. He says “there might be some growing pains, there’s going to be a lot of adjustments, a lot of new things coming to the department.” Faris requests that citizens give him time to get things accomplished as the changes he wishes to make will not be able to happen overnight. “If they bear with me for let’s say the first six months, I can promise they are going to see a lot of good changes for Summers County, especially once we get through this Covid thing” Faris states.
After the threat and restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic have passed, Faris plans on starting a Police Explorers program. This is a program for children in sixth grade and below. With this program, county children will get the chance to learn more about police officers and what they do every day. They will get to see how the K9 unit works, how to fingerprint and learn how to handle certain situations. Faris states that the main goal is to show kids that police officers are just regular people. They are not scary or mean. He wants children to know that if they need help, they can go to any police officer at any time.
Faris has a notice that he would like shared. “The drug dealers of Summers County really need to be worried. I am going to be their worst nightmare. I am sick and tired of this and I am not a one-man army by any means, but they should really be concerned that I won this election.”
When Faris found out he had won, he said he felt like all of his hard work had really paid off. While campaigning, he visited many homes and he was able to find out about some problems in the community that he did not previously know about. He says “it was a great experience overall, it was probably the best part of my campaign, just getting out and meeting people.”
Finally, Faris wants to extend a big thank you to the citizens of Summers County for “electing me”!
