West Virginia Code Chapter 15. Public Safety § 15-10-2. Legislative findings

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the commission of various crimes against the peace and dignity of the state of West Virginia quite often crosses county and municipal boundaries, affecting the citizenry of this state and making difficult the tasks of detecting and preventing crime by law-enforcement agencies due to restrictions imposed by municipal and county boundaries; that many county and municipal law-enforcement agencies do not, by themselves, have sufficient resources in personnel, equipment and particular areas of expertise to adequately prevent or detect those crimes or criminal activities which cross such county and municipal boundaries; that it is in the best interest of the citizens of this state for law-enforcement agencies to share resources and to provide mutual assistance to each other; and that, therefore, the Legislature finds and declares that the various law-enforcement agencies within the state should be permitted and empowered to share resources and provide mutual assistance for the prevention and detection of crime.