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Stead announces campaign for Hancock County sheriff

WEIRTON — The race to become the next sheriff of Hancock County is heating up.

Rick Stead, a long-time member of the local law enforcement community, announced Friday his intention to seek office as the county’s top cop.

“I’ve spent my entire adult life in service to the community,” Stead noted.

Stead began his law enforcement career with the West Virginia State Police, working in Morgantown from 1992 to 1994. He returned to Weirton, working 25 years in the Weirton Police Department and rising to the rank of captain.

He retired from the department earlier this year, and currently is working in Weirton’s Code Enforcement Department.

A Weir High School graduate, Stead attended West Virginia University, where he played football. He also currently serves as the head girls basketball coach at Weir High.

He said he plans to travel the county, both during his campaign and if he is elected, to meet with residents and learn more about their needs and what he can do to address them.

“People in Weirton might not have the same concerns as in Chester, New Manchester or New Cumberland,” Stead said. “You have to get out there, shake hands and see what their needs are.”

As part of his career, Stead has worked with the Hancock-Brooke-Weirton Drug and Violent Crime Task Force and assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of West Virginia in prosecuting high-profile drug and homicide cases.

He said the opioid crisis is among his top priorities, if elected, and he plans to continue to focus the sheriff’s department’s resources on arrests and prosecutions, as well as guiding individuals toward treatment programs.

Addressing the drug issues in the community, he said, will have an effect on the overall crime rate.

“People steal to make money to buy drugs,” he explained.

Stead also is certified by the Governor’s Committee on Crime Delinquency and Corrections, has extensive training in firearms, SWAT tactics and other disciplines, and has served as commander of Weirton’s Special Response Team.

Using his experiences as a coach, Stead said he would like to have the department expand its outreach with area youth, possibly through mentoring programs. He said he feels the existing prevention resource officer programs have been beneficial, but he also would like to see if reintroducing D.A.R.E. would help in reaching youth with an anti-drug message.

“You have to get to the children at a young age,” he said.

Stead is a past president of the Weirton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 84, and the father of two daughters, Reagan and Bailey.

Stead is the second individual to announce his candidacy for the seat currently held by Sheriff Ralph Fletcher. Retired county deputy Scott Gittings also is part of the race. Fletcher, who is term-limited as sheriff, is seeking office as a county magistrate.

(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com, and followed via Twitter @CHowellWDT)

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