Law for VA LEOs

In part one of our series on civil disturbances, we talk about Disorderly Conduct - what conduct qualifies and what conduct does not qualify as disorderly conduct in Va.?

This coming week, the Virginia House will consider proposed changes to how courts in Virginia would judge the use of deadly force. We talk about these proposals and what they would mean for Virginia LEOs.

Among the "police reform" bills proposed are a House and a Senate Bill that make violations for marijuana possession and many traffic offenses "secondary offenses" - you cannot stop someone for violations unless you have another offense. We talk about what that might mean and how the proposals are different.

What are "Garrity" rights? What does the 5th Amendment say about economic compulsion? One of the bills that passed the Va. house this week requires that officers answer questions in IA investigations or suffer dismissal, demotion or other sanction. We talk about Garrity and the rules about economic coercion under the 5th Amendment.

The Virginia Senate has passed bills on Assault on Law Enforcement and Search and Seizure, and the the Va. House Courts committee recommended creating several new types of lawsuits against police. What do these proposals mean? We examine them here.

Two new cases raise interesting questions: When is running "Obstruction" and when are police "Trespassing" on property?

You stop a car and get an alert that the passenger may be armed. Can you rely on that? What can you lawfully do? We discuss three cases this week on the "collective knowledge" doctrine.

You stop a car for a traffic violation. A passenger appears to be armed. What can you do? We talk about three recent cases.

Hearing gunshots from a complex with 2 recent homicides and 6 other shootings, you rush to the scene and arrive within 30 seconds of 911 calls for help. People are running everywhere - what can you do? The 4th Circuit's ruling in US v. Curry is fractious and controversial and we discuss it today.

How do you serve a search warrant when a digital device is locked? When is a search warrant "served" under the law when you have to work on the device to get it open? We talk about those issues here today.