FORT GAY, W.Va. (WCHS) — After years of challenges, one Wayne County community is working to turn things around.In Fort Gay, a new city council and police department are working to rebuild trust following a major shakeup in local leadership. A recent law enforcement operation, officials say, is one example of that effort in action.

For many families, Fort Gay has been home for generations. But residents say the community has changed over time, pointing to the growing impact of addiction and crime.

“It wasn’t bad whenever I was raising my kids,” resident Dianna Atkins said. “It was alright. But then as the years go on, it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.”

Fort Gay began rebuilding after a corruption case involving former leadership, with a new city council and a renewed focus on its police department.

“That’s something that’s affected the police department, the entire city and has a direct impact to the quality of care and what services can be provided to the city,” Wilson said. “I don’t think that throughout the rebuild of this department that we have the option to not fully engage in any of those. We have to be operating with high levels of integrity, high levels of accountability and most importantly, transparency.”

Wilson said efforts to understand community concerns have shaped the department’s priorities.

“Coming into this environment, we wanted to hear directly from the people that live here, what problems they’re facing, what concerns they have,” he said. “At the top of the list has been addiction problems.”

Town leaders and police are taking what they described as a multifaceted approach, partnering with organizations such as Prestera Center to address addiction and homelessness. The town has installed a program aimed at connecting people struggling with addiction to rehabilitation and helping people experiencing homelessness recover lost documents, with the goal of removing barriers to opportunity.

Wilson said those partnerships help connect people with professionals who can provide treatment, allowing police to focus enforcement efforts.

“It really creates an environment to where instead of law enforcement showing up and just trying to put a band aid on a situation, we’re able to put them in direct contact with the professionals that actually can help treat their disease,” he said. “That also helps free us up because as they get treatment, they’re seeing improvement in their quality of life. That frees up 911 services for repeat calls and allows us to focus our targeted enforcement on the drug dealers who prey on the addiction.”

Most recently, those efforts were put into Operation Clean Slate, where months of investigation came together to tackle high profile drug traffickers in the area. Several people are now facing charges as a result of the operation.

“We want people to know that when they make a complaint or they have a concern that we’re not only taking it seriously, but we put action behind our words,” Wilson said. “I think that Monday’s operation is a great example of that.”

Wilson said arrest numbers may appear small, but he said the impact is significant on a per-capita basis and that operations will continue.

For neighbors, they’re already feeling the impact, saying specifically the Fort Gay Apartments haven’t been this quiet in decades.

“I’ve got grandkids and great-grandkids that play around here,” Atkins said. “It means the world to me that they’ll be safe. I am hoping that Fort Gay cleans up and puts stuff in for kids to play and go to. That way they don’t have to turn to drugs.”

Wilson said the department’s work is ongoing and that the goal is to return Fort Gay to the community it once was.

“Based off of our numbers so far there is hope,” he said. “We’re not going to stop. Our mission is clear that the ultimate goal is that Fort Gay will be a safe respected community. This is not a town that is going to tolerate that, and this is a police department that will aggressively pursue anybody engaged in criminal activity until they’re brought forth to the court system and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Town leaders said they will continue working to bring more resources into the community, and anyone who needs help getting connected to services is encouraged to reach out to local officials.