Dep. N. Webb stands beside the Berkeley County Sheriff’s first-place winning unmarked vehicle at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Cruiser Competition held Saturday. Toni Milbourne

LEETOWN — Police agencies from around the tristate area gathered at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on Saturday to participate in the second annual Jefferson County Cruiser Competition.

The event, organized for the first time in 2021, was developed following other area examples of a similar nature to kick off National Police Week. Held last year at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Bardane, the event was moved to the fairgrounds this year to provide more space.

Vehicles from West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland lined up to allow members of the public to come up close and explore the vehicles as well as to allow those judging the competition to get a look before making their decisions.

It was not simply an opportunity for judging vehicles, but an opportunity for the community to come out, meet their local law enforcement officers and learn exactly what local officers do for the community.

There were individuals as well as families who came out to enjoy the up-close look at the police vehicles and the opportunity to converse with the officers.

“We mainly came for our youngest, Isaac,” said Audri Stillwell, of Harpers Ferry. “He loves anything with wheels.”

“I know Isaac’s favorite was the SWAT vehicles,” Stillwell said. “He loved being able to get into them and didn’t want to leave them. My favorite part was that the officers let the kids get into the cruisers and push some buttons or talk on the radio.”

According to Stillwell, her family’s favorite was the Loudoun County DARE vehicle that was painted like a flag.

Kaye Mood, of Middleway, agreed that the event was a perfect outing for a family.

“It was something nice for the family to do together,” Mood said, noting her favorite vehicles were the Jefferson County Sheriff and the West Virginia State Police cruisers.

At the end of the day, there were six vehicles selected out of the 16 marked and six unmarked registered for competition.

Taking first place in the marked division was the Washington County, Md., sheriff’s office with the Frederick, Md., city police coming in second. Rounding out the category with a third-place finish was the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Recruit officer Ashley Wilbraham, of Washington County, said that, while she was not the driver for the winning marked vehicle, she did spend time making sure the vehicle was sparkling for the competition.

In the unmarked division, Berkeley County’s Sheriff’s Office took first-place honors, while the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received second and Maryland State Police received third place.

Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan Harmon was proud of the win and went to social media to share his thoughts.

“The collaboration between (Berkeley) County Commission and the Sheriff’s Office on the purchase of these new cruisers that increase both citizen and officer safety (internal lighting system, traffic light signaling, pulsing/vibrating sirens and coordinating flashing) has paid off and was recognized,” Harmon wrote of the first-place win.

In addition to the marked and unmarked categories, the vote for People’s Choice, where all who attended could cast their ballot, went to the Loudoun County, Va., sheriff’s office.