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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Lt. James Faunda, who grew up in Eastern Ohio, has been named as commander of the St. Clairsville Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The position opened after Lt. Jeff LaRoche retired in February.

Recently promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, Faunda has been with the state patrol since 1993 and was transferred to the St. Clairsville Post in 2011. Despite being on the promotion list for several years, he indicated that he was surprised by his recent promotion.

"The thing I like about this promotion, I graduated from River High School (in Hannibal) in 1989 and I grew up in Monroe County," said Faunda. "I am familiar with the area. Basically, I am back home. So the fact that I was able to get promoted to the St. Clairsville Post is actually a blessing."

Becoming a law enforcement officer is something that Faunda always wanted to do. He went into the State Patrol Academy after attending the University of Alabama and Belmont Technical College.

"The Ohio State Highway Patrol had one of the best reputations in law enforcement for professionalism," said Faunda. "It's been a very fulfilling career. Just like anything else, it has its up and downs. We don't like going to people's homes and telling them that their family member has been killed in a crash, but we do get a feeling of satisfaction when we remove an impaired driver from the roadway, when we arrest people that are dealing drugs and even beyond that one of our big focal points is service to the public."

In 21 years as a trooper, Faunda has been transferred to several different posts throughout the state of Ohio. He was first assigned to the Milan Post and it was there, he was selected as "Post Trooper of the Year" in 1997. He then was transferred to the Norwalk Post in 1999, where he was selected as "Post Trooper of the Year" in 2001.

Faunda was promoted to sergeant in 2002 and was transferred to the Bowling Green Post. At the Bowling Green Post, he served as assistant post commander. As a sergeant, he served at the Norwalk Post, Bucyrus District Criminal Patrol, Mansfield Dispatch Center and the Steubenville Post.

Faunda said one of the things that impressed him most about the St. Clairsville Post is the working relationships and communications with local law enforcement agencies, and he plans for this to continue. "The thing that impressed me when I came back home is how well the post and all the agencies in Belmont County worked together," Faunda said. "We have a great working relationship with the sheriff's office and all the police departments in Belmont County, and we also have a great relationship with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office in Woodsfield and the Woodsfield Police Department."

He thinks that this is an important because all of these agencies have the same job, which is to remove criminals from our highways, cities and towns.

"If all the agencies don't work together, then that just makes that job that much harder," Faunda said. "We are very fortunate in this area."

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Faunda named St.?C. post commander