WEST POINT — If you’re in West Point, make sure your name isn’t on “the list.” You could find yourself handcuffed and in the back of a police car.
Two weeks ago, West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley posted a warrant list of people who have outstanding municipal court fines in the police station lobby. Today, a portion of the list ran in the Daily Times Leader newspaper in West Point. Brinkley said other portions of the list will run twice a week over the next few weeks.
More than $350,000 in outstanding fines are owed to the WPPD, and over the last two weeks, the city has put a significant dent in the 1,000-plus fines on the list.
Brinkley, who became chief on Sept. 1, said the decision to publish the list is uncommon, but it’s been effective.
“I don’t want to disclose the amount of money,” Brinkley said, “but we’ve had a lot of response. The list only goes back to 2008, but we’ve had people come in whose fines are so old that we’ve had to go back in files to pull that.”
Part of Brinkley’s initial evaluation of the department included assessing the judicial makeup. After talking with judges and court clerks, he decided there was an easy fix to a lingering problem.
“If your name is on there, clean this up,” Brinkley said. “If you know anyone else on there, contact them and let them know.”
Sometimes people genuinely forget they have fines, Brinkley said, but others just stop paying.
Officers haven’t started serving warrants for the outstanding fines, but they will soon.
For now, he is trying to give people ample time to come by, check the list and make arrangements to pay their fine.
Money collected will go toward equipment for the West Point Police Department.
Anyone who has a delinquent fine can stop by the West Point Police Department on Westbrook Street, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. to schedule payments. Arrangements can be made to pay fines after regular business hours by calling the WPPD at 662-494-1244.
“We’d much rather them come to us than to have to go pull somebody off their job,” Brinkley said. “Everyone is looking for a new and innovative way to count their court records, and we’ve got too many old fines on our books.”
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