Prince William Democrats deny request from police chief to urge governor to amend traffic bill; Gov. amends, anyway

Democrats on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors failed to back their chief of police after he voiced concerns about a bill that would make it impossible for his officers to stop cars that do not have a working head, tail, or brake lights.

Citing safety concerns for drivers and pedestrians, Acting Police Chief Col. Jarad Phelps on Tuesday told Supervisors that if the bill signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam (D), the fact that a vehicle doesn’t have working lights would no longer be a good enough reason to stop a driver.

Phelps was concerned about another key point in the legislation that would also make it impossible for his officers to arrest someone who was standing in a roadway blocking traffic.

“I have huge concerns about the traffic aspect of this,” said Phelps. “We’ve been working hard to improve the overall safety in our community and to have unsafe vehicles on the roadway, it will lead to more crashes.”

Phelps joined Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson in asking the Board of County Supervisors to send a joint letter to the governor asking him to use his line-item veto authority to strike the non-working head, tail, and brake light measure from the bill.

Prince William County Democrats declined and today, Northam sided with the county Republicans and law enforcement officers when he struck the working head, tail, and brake light language from the bill.

Three Republican members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, including Lawson, as well as Prince William County Sheriff Glendell Hill, the county’s top elected law enforcement officer, did send a letter to Northam requesting the line-item veto.

“I’ve talked to a lot of law enforcement officers about this bill, and this is one that many people thought would fail,” said Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland, a Republican. “The fact that it moved forward surprised a lot of people.

The bill, introduced by Delegate Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), came during an emergency session of the General Assembly called to address the coronavirus pandemic, and to hammer out a new state budget in response to the pandemic. The legislation also prevents police from searching for a car based on the smell of marijuana, a provision Northam left in the bill.

The eight members of the House of Delegates that Prince William County, all Democrats, voted for the bill as written, prior to the governor’s line-item veto. Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler cited the Delegates’ support of the bill when objecting to sending a letter to the governor.

“This is why people get elected to do these things,” said Wheeler.

Many on the Prince William Board, including Neabsco District Supervisor Victor Angry, said Tuesday’s meeting was the first time many Supervisors heard about the county police chief’s concerns over the bill. Last month, Phelps stood with former Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup, who now works as a contracted legislative liaison to the county, and briefed board members of multiple pieces of legislation moving through the emergency session of the General Assembly, to include this bill.

Sunday night, Lawson held a conference call with the acting police chief, county executive, and with Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega, a Republican and former police officer, to discuss their concerns with the legislation.

That call took place a week and a half after Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors were taken to court by a county resident who charged that, on May 31, Democrats organized a secret meeting that excluded Republicans, the public, and press, and violated Virginia’s public meeting laws following riots that took place near Manassas the day before.

A judge could not find evidence that Democrats colluded to hold a secret meeting and tossed out the case.

“Please notify all board members if you have concerns,” Angry told the acting police chief. “You have my number.”