The Virginia Senate passed SB 1047 by Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) to implement community engaged policing training standards in law enforcement.
The bill expands the responsibilities of the Department of Criminal Justice Services regarding community policing by requiring the compulsory training standards for basic training and recertification of law-enforcement officers to include fair and impartial policing, verbal de-escalation, and needs of special populations.
Said Senator Lucas, “There is an ongoing debate across our Commonwealth about how to deal with police-involved shootings and related community tensions and this is an attempt to address that. We need to prioritize relationship-building between our law enforcement and the communities they serve. This is definitely a step in the right direction.”
Said Senator Monty Mason (D-Williamsburg), “I am pleased my colleagues saw the wisdom in providing law enforcement with some standard training to improve their relationships with the communities they serve every day. Keeping communities safe is an effort citizens have to be engaged in, but, in order to get there, we need law enforcement to also be engaged in the communities they’re policing.”
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