West Virginia Tracking Kids Connected to Drug Cases

They thought of the children

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Law enforcement officers know what to do when they find suffering children in the home of a drug suspect: Call Child Protective Services. But what about when they find an empty car seat, a pacifier or a stuffed animal in a vehicle that's become a mobile meth lab?

In Putnam County, sheriff's deputies no longer need to agonize over whether to call child-welfare workers in the middle of the night based solely on suspicion of a threat.

Starting Thursday, the department will enter any drug-related cases where a child's safety could be compromised into the new Drug Endangered Child Tracking System.