By Heather Clower
The Parsons Advocate
With the transfer of Sergeant Siler not long ago, it left the position of detachment commander vacant in the Parsons Detachment of the West Virginia State Police. Sergeant Guy DeWeese, at the time stationed with Marlinton, was transferred to Parsons to fill the position. When asked if he was excited to learn of his new location, he replied, “Oh, absolutely!”
DeWeese wasn’t a stranger to the area however. Upon graduation from McDowell County, he first applied for the City of Welch Police. At just eighteen years old and a large pool of candidates, that didn’t quite pan out for him. He decided to attend Mercer Technical School where he successfully completed courses to become a certified welder. After welding for approximately six years, he was laid off due to the happenings of 9-11. The company he worked for was a major supplier of airlines, which took a drastic hit in business as a result of the terrorist attacks. In September of 2003, DeWeese signed on with the WV State Police Academy, where he spent eight months prior to graduating in April of 2004. “It was something I always wanted to do, I just never followed through”, he said.
He began his detail stationed in Randolph County before becoming involved with the K9 unit around 2010. He was in a troop that covered ten counties during that detail, which included Tucker County where he worked closely with Corporal Kopec. After eight years within the K9 troop, he was stationed back in Elkins before being promoted to Marlinton, where he was approximately six months before coming to Parsons.
Now serving as the detachment commander for Tucker County, he stated “I’m responsible for everything here”. However, he was quick to comment Michelle Hebb was actually the one in charge of the place; he was here to assist her. Joking aside, Sergeant DeWeese does have a lot of responsibility riding on his shoulders. Even though he isn’t as involved with the K9 unit, he is responsible for men under his command. Currently working with DeWeese is Trooper First Class J.J. Schmidle, Corporal J.E. Kopec, and Corporal D.W. Burge.
His official first day with our detachment was February 2, 2019 and has been involved in a lot of training and acclimating to the new realms of his position. He looks forward to getting to know the community and working especially with the schools spreading safety and education to our youth.