West Liberty University Campus Police Department will be hosting In-Service Training for Law Enforcement at the West Liberty Highlands Center from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 10.

The topic of the class will be Advance Gang Investigation.

“We were happy to arrange and coordinate this in-service session,” said Lt. Thomas Hostutler, WLU campus police officer and a member of the Virginia Gang Investigators Association. West Liberty University enjoys the presence of a paid professional police force on duty 24-7.

Officers from four different states are expected to attend the gang investigation program, according to Hostutler.

The training is free and open to all law enforcement professionals and approved for eight hours in-service training by Chuck Sadler, West Virginia law enforcement standards coordinator.

The agenda includes gangs 101 review, West Virginia gang laws and investigative techniques. The session also includes discussion of social media for gangs and search warrants.

Three law enforcement professionals will teach the class.

• Virginia State Police Supervisory Special Agent Mark Campbell: Campbell has been with the Virginia Department of State Police for 24 years and was a uniformed trooper for nine years. Also a narcotic K9 handler for two years, he was assigned to a drug enforcement section and gang unit for the Bureau of Criminal Investigations from 2004 – 2006. From 2006 – 2011, Campbell was promoted and served as supervisory special agent to the Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotics and Gang Task Force. From 2011, he has been assigned as supervisory special agent for the R.U.S.H. Drug Task Force.

• Albemarle County Police Department Detective James Hope: Hope has been a police officer for 25 years. He was with Charlottesville Police Department from 1989-1996 and with the Albemarle County Police Department from 1996 – present, where he is an assistant gang team leader. Hope also is a board member and regional director for Virginia Gang Investigators Association.

• Virginia Certified Gang Specialist Kimberly Koeppen: After earning her degree from Old Dominion University in 1990, Koeppen began her career as a juvenile correction officer with Virginia’s Department of Juvenile Justice. She was later promoted to Corrections Institution Rehabilitation Counselor and she was certified as a substance abuse counselor in 1994. She has worked with the Virginia Gang Investigators Association since 2003, first serving as regional director for the Blue Ridge Region and then as an executive board member. Koeppen is a certified gang specialist and the only juvenile probation/parole officer certified in court to testify as a gang expert by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

West Liberty’s Highlands Center Campus is located at the Highlands Center Shopping Complex, Exit 10 off I-70, Cabela’s Drive. Free parking is available.

For more information on the in-service, please contact West Liberty Campus Police at 304-336-8021.