Category: Crime, Corrections, Law Enforcement
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Descent into Madness: Loudoun County Edition
by James A. Bacon Two weeks ago the National School Boards Association (NASB) appealed in a highly publicized letter to President Biden to do something to stop the “threats and acts of violence against public school children, public school board members, and other public school district officials.” Attorney General Merrick Garland said the FBI would…
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How to Fight the Cancel-Culture Thugs
by Blaine Pardoe I am an established, bestselling, award-winning, Virginia author. When my latest book was announced, a conservative political thriller titled, “Blue Dawn,” I brought down the wrath of the leftist cancel culture. A very small but vocal group of ‘fans’ tried to get one of my publishers of 36+ years to cancel its…
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In Fairfax, Illegal-Alien Rights Trump Citizen Rights
by James A. Bacon Apparently, protecting illegal aliens from U.S. immigration authorities is more important to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors than safeguarding the transparency of police blotters, which have been a mainstay of local media crime reporting and public information about crime in the community. The Fairfax County Police Department has stopped publishing…
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Kick Out the Punks Before They Kill Someone
by Kerry Dougherty School officials are wringing their hands in Newport News right now, wondering what they could have done to prevent a shooting at Heritage High School that left a 17-year-old boy and girl with bullet wounds. On Monday morning, outside of the school cafeteria, the boy was shot in the head and leg,…
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Bacon Bits: The Fraying Social Fabric Edition
Honor is an antiquated slaveholders concept anyway. The University of Virginia’s student Honor Committee has voted to alter the honor code to eliminate the single sanction against lying, cheating and stealing from expulsion to a two-semester suspension. Before the change can be adopted, it must be approved by a vote of the student body. Third-year…
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Convicted, But Innocent–Emerson Stevens
by Dick Hall-Sizemore In August, Governor Northam granted a full pardon to Emerson Stevens. Stevens had been convicted of killing a young mother of two in 1985 in a small fishing village on the Northern Neck. The pardon was based on evidence that “reflects Mr. Stevens’ innocence.” Stevens maintained from the beginning that he was…
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A Closer Look at Those “Driving While Black” Statistics
by James A. Bacon When the Commonwealth published its Virginia Community Policing Act traffic-stop database last week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch spun the data this way: Black drivers are disproportionately stopped and arrested, and they have their cars searched at higher rates than any other race statewide. Here’s what the RTD could have written: Black drivers stopped for…
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Former Norfolk Sheriff Convicted of Fraud and Bribery
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Here is another name to add to the list of corrupt public officials — former Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe. Earlier this week, a federal jury convicted him of all 11 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. The charges covered actions committed over a 22-year period. They included accepting gift cards to…
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Driving While Black Redux
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Some participants on this blog have voiced skepticism regarding the claim that Black drivers are more likely than white drivers to be pulled over by law enforcement. Jim Bacon even went to great lengths to demonstrate that it was difficult to determine the race of a driver in a moving vehicle. These…
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Bacon Bits: Reality Sucks Edition
Bye, Bye, Brackney. The City of Charlottesville will not renew the employment contract of Police Chief RaShall Brackney, who took on the job in June 2018, the City announced on its website yesterday. No explanation was given. However, the announcement follows less than two weeks after publication of a survey of Charlottesville police officers showing…
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You Gets What You Pays For
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s prison system is short 1,500 correctional officers. Turnover has increased to 25% a year, much higher than the average 15% church for other state agencies. And the situation is getting worse as remaining employees work double shifts and come in on days off. The shortfall is worst in urban areas…
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Mercy for Another Cop Killer
by Kerry Dougherty What is it about politicians and their affection for cop killers? Here in Virginia, former Terry McAuliffe appointee Parole Board Chair Adrianne Bennett (now a judge in Virginia Beach) led the board in springing convicted cop killer Vincent Martin during a freeing spree that sprung a number of violent criminals. Martin was…
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Charlottesville Police Morale in the Dumps
by James A. Bacon Morale in the Charlottesville Police Department is in the tank. Large majorities of respondents to a survey conducted by the Virginia Police Benevolent Association said they did not believe that either Police Chief Rashall Brackney or the command staff had their backs; 90% said that the political climate in the city…
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Recidivism: The Rest of the Story, Part 3–Who Comes Back to Prison?
by Dick Hall-Sizemore Prior posts (here and here) discussed the increase in the Commonwealth’s recidivism rate and the possible explanations for that increase. This post, the last in the series, will examine the characteristics of recidivists, or which offenders are most likely to commit new crimes upon their release from prison. Despite what is depicted…
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Three More Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock There was extensive commentary on my post yesterday that recommended expanded use of stop and frisk in an attempt to reduce gun violence. Given the demonstrated interest in the subject, I offer three suggestions that go further. Increase federal prosecutions. Federal laws, penalties, detention hearings and prosecutions are a far more formidable deterrent to…