Beginning July 1, 2020, Virginia House Bill 1250, commonly known as the Community Policing Act, will become law. It requires local law enforcement agencies to collect and report certain data pertaining to drivers to the Virginia State Police during a motor vehicle (traffic) stop.
In Prince William County, some of this data was previously collected on stops that resulted in an arrest or the issuance of a Virginia Uniformed Summons (VUS).
The Police Department will comply with this mandate, issuing written warning notices for the purpose of collecting the required data outside of an arrest or VUS being issued. This means police officers must document the demographic information of individuals on all traffic stop encounters. The data that is required to be collected during traffic stops includes;
• the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the person stopped;
• the reason for the stop;
• the location of the stop;
• whether a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or whether any persons were arrested;
• if a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the warning provided, violation charged, or crime charged; and
• whether the vehicle or any person was searched.
As the Police Department complies with this new mandate, we want our community to be aware that additional questioning by our officers may occur during these stops so our agency can collect the required data.
A written warning notice is also new for our Department. These notices are considered only a warning of an infraction and are not meant to serve as a citation of a violation requiring a court appearance or payment of a fine. No action by the recipient will be needed following the issuance of a warning notice by an officer.
The Department remains committed to ensuring all community members are treated fairly and impartially. This new law seeks to “prohibit law-enforcement officers from engaging in bias-based profiling in the performance of their official duties.” The Police Department supports this effort and will provide all required data to ensure this does not occur in our community.
— Prince William police
