Published: August 15, 2008 09:37 pm         

Commander leaving for new headquarters job

State Police Troop 6

After spending most of his 22-year State Police career in southern West Virginia, Capt. S.F. Van Meter will leave for a job at South Charleston headquarters.

Van Meter, commander of Troop 6 covering Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming, McDowell and Mercer counties, confirmed he will begin work at State Police headquarters Sept. 1.

Van Meter will be promoted to major and work as deputy chief of field services. He will be directly supervised by Lt. Col. B.A. Sloan — the Troop 6 commander before him — and they will be charged with handling troopers in the field statewide.

First Lt. Robert L. Stickley, presently working at the Beckley detachment, will be promoted to captain and become the new Troop 6 commander, Van Meter said.

Van Meter, a Grant County native, has been a state trooper for 22 years, working in Beckley, Welch, Oak Hill and Charleston. He was the State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation commander before coming to lead Troop 6 about three and a half years ago.

While he is happy to have the new job, Van Meter admitted leaving is somewhat bittersweet.

“It will be tough,” he said. “I came to Beckley when I got out of the academy. To me, this is home now. I’ve made a lot of good friends and good memories. It will be sad to leave.

“I’ll still be doing stuff here. I’ll still live here. I’ll just be going throughout the state as well.”

Van Meter commended his successor, and he is confident in the job Stickley will do.

Stickley, a Wirt County native, lives in Nicholas County. He came to the Beckley detachment two and a half years ago and works in the Professional Standards Section, which investigates complaints against officers. His 23-year career began at the Logan detachment. Later assignments included the Summersville, Webster Springs and Oak Hill detachments.

Stickley is excited as he prepared to begin his new assignment because it will allow him to work in the field more often. He had high praise for the departing commander and the troopers who will now be under his supervision.

“His shoes will be hard to fill,” Stickley said of Van Meter. “We have good guys here. Troop 6 is the best in the state.”

— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com