Inneresting

[Dave's Not Here Man]

wtop.com/virginia/2020/07/prepare-to-answer-racial-questions-when-you-get-pulled-over-in-virginia/


Will the driver be able to decline to answer?

And if they do, how often will the officer escalate the encounter?

[minx]

lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1250

Pertinent part of the bill

The bill requires that each time a local law-enforcement officer or State Police officer stops a driver of a motor vehicle the officer collect the following data based on the officer's observation or information provided to the officer by the driver: (i) the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the person stopped; (ii) the reason for the stop; (iii) the location of the stop; (iv) whether a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or whether any persons were arrested; (v) if a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the warning provided, violation charged, or crime charged; and (vi) whether the vehicle or any person was searched. The bill requires each state and local law-enforcement agency to also collect and report to the State Police the number of complaints the agency receives alleging the use of excessive force.

So they don't need to ask per se - they can base it off their observations. But yes, this needs to be publicized more so people know it's out there, and at least IMO, it's a step in the right direction.
We know there's a problem, but we need much better tracking to pinpoint where the problem is.

And yeah, the police are going to have to be dragged into the current century kicking and screaming. I wish I had more sympathy for them, but they've had decades to do something to fix this and haven't. So welcome to the world of micro-management! And I swear to Fucking God that I want someone to say each and every time the Blue Lives Matter crowd whines about this "Well, if they're doing the job properly, they have nothing to hide, so why wouldn't they want full accountability?"

[bobathon]

A lot of that is on your driver license. I'd like their entire encounters on video, too. What do our heroes in blue have to hide?

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Right behind you on all that but I'm wondering, because that's what I do, where the unintentional (or maybe intentional even) problems arise. Take me as a perfect example. I get pulled over for a brake light that's burned out. Fair enough. The first thing the officer does is ask me for my identification. However, I have long held that this is WRONG. The first thing each and every cop should do when initiating an official encounter is #1 Identify THEMSELVES by name, the department they work for, and #2 the reason they are initiating the encounter, in this case a traffic stop. So something like "good afternoon I'm officer Jack Boot and I'm a road pirate for the Stafford County Sheriff's Office. The reason I pulled you over is because you have a non-functioning brake light which is a violation of the Virginia State Police Vehicle Safety Inspection Standards". I nod okay. He then asks me for my driver's license and registration, to which I comply. He asks me to "sit tight" and he'll be right back. He comes back and cites me for defective equipment and hands me the ticket and my license, then says the lines about "signing the ticket isn't an admission of guilt, if you wish to contest it you can appears in court..... do you have any questions?" I shake my head no.

Now if I am unwilling to speak to the officer in that very casual and simple interaction, what makes you think we're going to get along when he starts asking all of his other stupid questions that I see as attempting to get me to say something that gives him "reasonable suspicion"?

Yeah so that's just me. But what about when not so obvious race androgynous Pat gets stopped for the same reason and he asks these new questions. Plus given the current general state of law enforcement, I'm going to predict at least a 66% possibility the officer takes a condescending attitude and pushes the person to answer them.

The cop can "observe" sure, because with a great many of the people he encounters it will be fairly obvious the white females and black males. But Asian lady boys? Not so much.

Does the law say the driver must comply and answer the new questions?

[minx]

I did not see where the driver has to comply and answer. My suspicion is that in those instances, the cop will just be told to use his or her judgement, so we're going to see a lot of non-answers being defined as white men I bet.

And I 100% agree with you on how the stop should be handled - in addition, at the end of the stop, along with the ticket or warning, you should be handed a business card with the officer's information and a number or website to go to if you'd like to make any comments about the stop (positive or negative - you do read more than a fair amount of stories where a cop helped someone in a stressful situation and they never got their name).

And yes, body camera footage of all stops, regardless of how minor.

I would stipulate that if the officer is in a dangerous situation from the get-go (stopping a stolen car, stopping someone suspected of kidnapping an ex or a kid), that the requirement to personally identify themselves at the start can be waived. In that case, it would be "This is the Virginia State Police - pull over and turn your vehicle off immediately!". Once the scene is secured, then they can approach and identify themselves. But they also had better have on their dash cam, and a body cam and both better be on and recording for those situations.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Yeah I was a little broad there, but meant for routine stops.