Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
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The History Standards: A Correction, An Apology, and Some Comments
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In an earlier post dealing with the proposed Standards of Learning in History and Social Studies, I complained that I could not find a copy of the earlier draft on the Department of Education website and suggested that it had been purged. I was mistaken. The draft is available on the website.…
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Lost Boy
by James A. Bacon There is a disturbing sidebar to the University of Virginia mass shooting story. Only a few hours before the murders took place at around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, a rapper and minor social media celebrity, Bryan Silva, posted a disturbing message on his Facebook account: I want u v a…
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A Time To Mourn
Many questions arise from the mass shooting at the University of Virginia two days ago. Why’d he do it? Were there warning signs? Could the murders have been prevented? There will be a time and a place to answer those questions. But not now. Now is the time to mourn the loss of three fine…
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UVa Slayings
by Kerry Dougherty Unimaginable. The fear, the dread that crept across the University of Virginia grounds Sunday night as reports of a fatal shooting spread and students were cautioned to shelter in place. The gunman was on the loose. He was armed and dangerous. The manhunt for Christopher Darnell Jones Jr, lasted 12 terrifying hours.…
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UVa Tragedy Reasonably Preventable? State Investigation Required
by James C. Sherlock Updated Nov. 15, 2020 at 8:36 AM (see end of article) We have two related pieces of information about the UVa tragedy that call into question the effectiveness of the University’s state-mandated threat-assessment process. We have the statements of senior University officials. And we have Code of Virginia § 23.1-805. Violence prevention…
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Tragedy at UVa – Suspect now in Custody – Troubling Reports about UVa Police Effectiveness
by James C. Sherlock From the Charlottesville Daily Progress: “Sean Perry, 22, and a linebacker and defensive end for the University of Virginia football team, is one of three people who was shot dead at Culbreth Garage on UVa Central Grounds at the University of Virginia Sunday night, Perry’s father Sean Perry confirmed Monday morning.…
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Fredericksburg is the Crime Capital of Virginia
by James C. Sherlock I wrote Friday that Fredericksburg has a major crime problem. After hours of plowing through state crime statistics for 2021, I can now declare Fredericksburg the crime capital of Virginia. Public safety is the number one job of local government, followed by running its schools. The statistics suggest the Fredericksburg law enforcement…
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Will Fredericksburg Revert to Being a Town?
by James C. Sherlock There are two major reasons that Virginians organize themselves into local governments: public safety; and public schools for their children. Fredericksburg has proven unable to provide either competently. It’s record is unapproachably bad given its assets. We have documented its deplorable schools. When I wrote in that piece that they need…
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Sanctuary Sell-Out
by Jon Baliles If you time warp all the way back to early 2017 (which on some days seems like 30 years ago), then-newly-sworn-in Mayor Levar Stoney issued a directive that Richmond would be a sanctuary city in opposition to then-newly-sworn-in President Trump’s executive orders on immigration (that were later struck down). Many cities across…
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Virginia Needs to Adopt the Uniform Act on Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking
by James C. Sherlock Seldom can we mitigate bad problems with solutions that work and are handed us on a platter. But we can do that in Virginia in the case of human trafficking. The Department of Justice defines human trafficking as follows: Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a crime that…
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Norfolk Man Accused of Triple Murder About To Be Freed
by Kerry Dougherty Good news for the soft-on-crime crowd: a suspected triple murderer is being freed in Norfolk because two witnesses didn’t show up for yesterday’s preliminary hearing. And because it appears that prosecutors aren’t exactly breaking a sweat trying to get this case moving. Antoine M. Legrande Jr.’s hearing was originally scheduled for September…
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Now It’s Time to Get It Right
by Jon Baliles We can all take some comfort in the fact that Police Chief Gerald Smith has resigned, not because there is comfort in someone else’s downfall, but rather it gives the city a chance to start over with new leadership in public safety and repair the damage that has been done. Smith did…
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Drug Dealers Are Murderers
by Kerry Dougherty If you thought Virginia lawmakers wouldn’t be able to reverse some of the damage done by the past two administrations, next winter’s session may ease your mind. Governor Glenn Youngkin announced this week that he wants the law to change so that prosecutors can charge drug dealers with murder when their wares…
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Opioid Epidemic Costs Virginians $3.5 Billion a Year
Over and above the lives it has destroyed, the opioid epidemic cost Virginia’s economy about $3.5 billion in 2020, according to data published by the Virginia Department of Health. The major costs calculated include lost labor, health care and crime. Mapping the costs by locality, the database shows per-capita costs ranging from $132 in Falls…
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Is It Still a Hate Crime If the Perp Was Protesting Pedophilia?
An Albemarle County man, Shane Dennis, has been charged with intimidation for placing a noose on the statue of Homer at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville news media are reporting. Dennis, who appeared for a bond hearing Tuesday in Albemarle County District Court, also has been charged with contempt of court for misbehaving in the…