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Virginia Cops and Social Media

When you “spin” a news story, you tweak it to have a subjective point of view—to have a muted and often undetectable bias. Mainstream media does it all the time, despite high-quality journalism supposedly being objective and unbiased. But now cops are getting in on the action. At a recent conference in Richmond, police agencies from around the country sent representatives to learn how best to use media to their advantage.

The event was hosted by the Richmond Police Department and was a three-day conference. According to the Times-Dispatch, the cops were there to learn the “tricks” of the trade and “how to put their own spin on the news they create.” (Notice, they aren’t there to learn how to relay facts or report the news, but to create and manipulate the news.) [Read more…]

A Virginia Reckless Charge Means License Suspension for DC Drivers

The Washington Post reports on how the vast differences in reckless driving laws between Virginia and DC can result in drivers with DC licenses getting a 6 month license suspension for a single incident of driving 10mph over the speed limit.

According to the story, the DC DMV will automatically suspend your driver’s license for 6 months if you get a reckless driving conviction in Virginia. And it is incredibly easy for this to happen, since Virginia’s reckless driving laws include reckless by speed, which is a citation for driving 20mph over the posted speed limit, or 80mph on any highway, even those where the posted speed limit is 70mph. [Read more…]

Virginia Police Improve Eyewitness ID Procedures

When a witness fingers a suspect, they aren’t always accurate. As a matter of fact, many cases that are later found to be wrongful convictions involve a mistaken eyewitness identification. In an effort to reduce the number of mistakes and to improve the process by which witnesses choose suspects, the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services is changing its policies. [Read more…]

Virginia DNA Info Shows 33 Convicted Sex Offenders May be Innocent

Before DNA testing was widely available, establishing guilt in a sex offense wasn’t just a matter of testing bodily fluids. Instead, much of the evidence used to convict suspects included things like eyewitness testimony and identification—things that aren’t error proof. According to a new study from the Urban Institute, numerous convictions during this time may have been in error.

The Urban Institute looked at sex assault cases between 1973 and 1987. They found as many as 33 people convicted of such assaults during that time are likely innocent. This is a wrongful conviction rate of 8 to 15%, an astronomical figure when you are talking about the damage done to these people’s lives. [Read more…]

Virginia State Police Begins Traffic Enforcement Campaign

The VSP begins it’s summer campaign of extra highway safety enforcement.

According do this article, “Operation Land, Speed, and Air” will focus extra police patrols on I-81 and I-95, looking for drunk drivers, speeders, and reckless drivers.

Does any of this make the road of Virginia safer? Maybe. But that is the nature of more police… there are always people you can pull over for speeding and other offenses. It is easy enough to generate bigger numbers of traffic citations if that’s the goal.

But what this is really about is that they get extra federal funding for these campaigns, as it clearly says in the article:  “Funding for the enforcement initiative is provided through federal highway safety monies”
Which is all well and good, but it is silly to claim that it is about anything else: We have federal money to pay more officers, so we will do stuff. Fair enough.

And they kind of give away the point when they talk about what they will do with the extra funds generated by fines and fees. And the fees are high, especially for the criminal charge of reckless driving, which you can get by merely going 20mph over the limit, or 80mph anywhere. It is widely accepted that Virginia has the the most stringent reckless driving laws in the nation. It is painfully easy to get cited for this misdemeanor offense.

Plus, if the only concern was public safety, why only now? ““Too many lives are put at risk because of irresponsible driving behavior.” Clearly that is not only true during the summer.
But yes, it is possible that you are more likely to be stopped during the summer if there really is an extra police presence. 
Anyway, be careful out there and drive safely. As always!

Virginia Prison Sentences Nearly Doubled

We’ve all heard the phrase “tough on crime,” and many people are aware that the United States is the most incarcerated nation in the world. But a new indication of our love of imprisonment comes in the form of sentence length. The Pew Center on the States released a report this week detailing how prison sentences have changed over the past few decades. What they found is dramatic.

Not only are people going to prison now for offenses they may have only gotten probation for in the past, but the sentences they are serving are far longer. [Read more…]

Virginia Jewelry Robbery Case Sparks National Attention

A traveling jewelry salesman was robbed outside of his Northern Virginia hotel, and the case has garnered much attention as news media sources analyze the trouble with keeping such traveling salesman safe in a world where theft rings have gotten more and more complex.

This particular jewelry salesman was checking out of his hotel when a vehicle blocked him in and robbed him at gun point. The masked gunmen made off with about $350,000 in jewelry. It virtually mirrors a similar robbery outside of a North Carolina Holiday Inn and one that happened outside of Newark Liberty International Airport. [Read more…]

Virginia Gov. Signs New Strangulation Law

According to domestic violence group, strangulation or choking frequently precedes homicide but is rarely prosecuted. In an effort to change this, Virginia joins a growing number of states to make strangulation a felony offense.

HB752/ SB459 was signed into law by Governor Bob McDonnell a few weeks ago. The law makes strangulation a Class 6 Felony charge, carrying a potential 5 year prison sentence and fines reaching $2,500. [Read more…]

Virginia Changing Police Lineup and Eyewitness I.D. Protocol

When an eyewitness points their finger at a suspect, indicating that they are the culprit, it can be a powerful thing. But often, eyewitness identifications are wrong. In Virginia, 14 people have been exonerated by DNA evidence after their conviction—11 of the cases involved eyewitness misidentification.

In an effort to reduce misidentifications and ultimately wrongful convictions, the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services has revised its model policy for eyewitness id’s and police lineups, drafting a plan that will make it clear to agencies across the state just how they are expected to handle such police work. [Read more…]