Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
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The Mercy Seat
Author Dale M. Brumfieldโs new book chronicles the abolishment of Virginiaโs death penalty. by Peter Galuszka Style Weekly In 2015, Dale M. Brumfield, a veteran journalist and author, was finishing a masters degree in fine art in writing at Virginia Commonwealth University. He learned of a prison inmate who escaped from Virginia to Florida, lived…
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Virginia Public School Security – the Disturbing Data
by James C. Sherlock Does Uvalde Texas seem far away? ย It really is not. All ofย the problems encountered in that tragedy exist in Virginia schools. I credit the work of everyone in every school district to keep the schools safe. But given the scale of the dangerous school security-related incidents that occur despite their efforts,…
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“The Kids Are Out of Control”
๏ปฟ Here’s more evidence that the social fabric is fraying: a high school senior was stabbed to death in a fight that spilled into an Alexandria neighborhood shopping center a couple of days ago. Just as Americans seem powerless to stop tragedies like the Uvalde school shooting, we seem impotent to halt the far more…
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The Last Friday in May
by Kerry Dougherty When I emailed Rebecca Lear earlier this week I told her I was writing a piece on Mondayโs anniversary of the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center and wondered if she had time to meet me. It was May 31, 2019 that a deranged city employee went on a shooting…
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Youngkin Announces Violent Crime Task Force
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced yesterday the creation of a task force to combat violent crime in Virginia. Said the Governor in making the announcement: โWe will take a comprehensive look at how we can address the rise in violent crime by providing more law enforcement resources, creating alternative and after-school activities for children, and addressing…
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Fairfax County Declines Assistance in Protecting Supreme Court Justices as Unconstitutional
By James C. Sherlock The Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a career progressive politician unburdened by a law degree, has declared Fairfax Countyโs support of federal authorities in execution of federal law to be unconstitutional. Not unaffordable; not wrong; but unconstitutional. He offered that opinion to justify his decision that the Fairfax…
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What are We Doing to Ourselves with the Criminal Justice System?
by James C. Sherlock I will share a press release this week from the Justice Department. Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Fraud, Identity Theft, and Firearm Offenses Weโll try to figure out at what point we lost our minds about law enforcement.
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Paying for Miscarriages of Justice
by Dick Hall-Sizemore The 2022 General Assembly appropriated $6.5 million to compensate seven individuals who had been wrongly incarcerated. The men had been convicted of crimes which it was later determined they did not commit.ย They were: Eugene Stevens–$1.7 million. (HB 394)ย Stevens was convicted of murder in 1986 in Lancaster County and sentenced to…
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Pill-Popping Nurse Gets Three Years in Prison
by Kerry Dougherty If thereโs a special ring in hell for those who prey on children — and I hope there is — there should also be a place reserved for those who hurt the elderly. Consider the monstrous acts of Janeen Bailey, a 57-year-old LPN with 25 years of nursing experience who stole painkillers…
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Existing Gun Laws Get Some Help from a Perp
by James C. Sherlock This guy was better armed than the average citizen or cop. But just with a weapon. It did not seem to help him. Darwin was right. From a DOJ news release: Virginia Beach Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing a Machine Gun Used in a Shootout NORFOLK, Va. โ A Virginia Beach…
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Et Tu Miyares — Prosecuting “Price Gougers”?
by James A. Bacon What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I lambasted former Attorney General Mark Herring for touting his prosecution of gas station owners for “price gouging” — raising prices in the wake of the Colonial Pipeline shutdown. Now the AG’s office under Jason Miyares has issued a press release…
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Does Loudoun Need a Police Department?
by Ken Reid The latest battle between the Left and Right in Loudoun is not over CRT, but PD โ as in, โpolice department.โ Should Virginiaโs most-populous county transfer key law-enforcement functions from the elected sheriff to a newly created civil-servant police chief? No crime problem in Loudoun is driving this debate. No scandals, budgetary…
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Norfolk Police Chief’s Sudden Retirement
by Kerry Dougherty Although itโs unlikely, I like to think we had a little something to do with Norfolk Police Chief Larry Booneโs surprise announcement Wednesday that he was retiring in two days. Weโve been critics of his leadership. Perhaps he was paying attention when we called for him to be fired just 15 days…
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Ski Masks in April? Enforce the Anti-Mask Law!
by Kerry Dougherty On Saturday evening at about 6:30 three people were shot at Norfolkโs once-upscale MacArthur Center. One man, 33-year-old Roosevelt A. McKinney, was killed. Two others were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds. The Norfolk police would like your help in identifying the suspected shooter. Theyโve even provided security cam stills: Helpful,…
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“People Are Afraid to Go Over There”
by James A. Bacon A woman is being treated for life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound after being found in a room at the Diamond Inn & Suites hotel in Richmond’s Diamond District yesterday. City records show that the Richmond Police Department has been called to the motel for multiple incidents, including overdoses and a…