Virginia is in the minority of states keeping even the most basic police data secret

February 8, 2024 Guest User

A recruitment poster for the Norfolk, Virginia Police Department hangs inside a New York City subway train in July 2022. *Photo by Dan Morisson // VCIJ at WHRO*

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police, Virginia lawmakers took action on reports that state policing regulators failed to strip the police certifications from dozens of officers with criminal convictions ranging from embezzlement to possession of child pornography and sexual assault.

The Legislature passed a bill in October 2020 requiring police departments to complete internal investigations even if officers resign during them, and to provide any records of misconduct to new prospective employers for officers; strengthening the requirements for agencies to send reports of misconduct to state regulators; expanding the offenses for which officers can be stripped of their certifications; and requiring a state board to write a statewide standard of conduct for policing.

Three years later, barely anything has changed.

Lawmaker Seeks Study, Relief for Black Communities Uprooted by Virginia Universities

January 17, 2024 Guest User

Following an investigation by the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO and ProPublica, Del. Delores McQuinn introduces bill for a commission to investigate the displacement of Black neighborhoods by Virginia’s public colleges and universities

Virginia Lawmaker Calls for Commission to Study State Universities’ History of Uprooting Black Communities

November 10, 2023 Guest User

A Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority map from the 1960s shows how Old Dominion University (then called Old Dominion College) planned to expand into the Lamberts Point neighborhood in Norfolk, Virginia. (*Old Dominion University Special Collections & University Archives)*

In response to our reporting, state Delegate Delores McQuinn said a task force could shed light on the impact of college expansion in Virginia. Officials are also calling for displaced families to receive redress, from scholarships to reparations.

Virginia campaigns set fundraising records

November 6, 2023 Guest User

Sun sets on Virginia Capitol in Richmond, Va., Nov. 3, 2023. All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot this year. *Photo by Jimmy Clutier*

Virginia’s high-stakes General Assembly elections on Nov. 7 are the commonwealth’s most expensive on record — and could prove to be among the costliest legislative elections in U.S. history.

Nearly $2 million in “dark money” pours into historic Virginia campaigns

September 15, 2023 Guest User

“Dark money” organizations have spent more than $1.7 million on Virginia candidates. More than $1.4 Million going to Republican candidates. *Photo by Jimmy Cloutier // VCIJ*

Independent political groups backed largely by “dark money” organizations and wealthy donors have spent nearly $1.7 million on Virginia candidates this election cycle, raising concerns about transparency and the influence of outside money in the tightly contested battle for control of the General Assembly.

Amid high-profile shootings, Virginia gun policy remains a stalemate

March 13, 2023 Louis Hansen

Students on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA, mourn the more than 30 people killed on campus during a candle light vigil on the campus. Burruss Hall is in the background. Photo taken April 17, 2007. Photo by Christopher Tyree/file for The Virginian-Pilot.

In the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, elected leaders vowed to prioritize campus safety.

Then-Gov. Tim Kaine appointed a blue-ribbon panel and within a year signed more than 30 mental health, school security and gun purchase bills aimed at preventing future mass shootings. Several appeals for stricter gun policies, however, were voted down.

More than 15 years later, in the aftermath of another school shooting — this time at the University of Virginia, where three students were shot and killed in November — state lawmakers considered a range of gun policy proposals: a ban on new assault-style weapons, new punishments for those who fail to secure their guns, an expansion of the state’s “red flag” law and restrictions on possessing firearms in school buildings.

But just one major safety measure survived: a $300 tax credit for firearms owners to purchase gun safes. A second bill requiring public universities to more quickly and comprehensively respond to a potential threat passed the House and Senate but still awaits Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s signature.

Will recent mass shootings turn Virginia’s public safety debate?

December 22, 2022 Chris Tyree

Following the murder of three University of Virginia football players by a fellow student, UVA students hoist a banner over the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in November. *Photo by Christopher Tyree*

Following the back-to-back mass shootings at the University of Virginia and a Chesapeake Walmart, Republicans and Democrats are touting proposals to help prevent future tragedies – again.

Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, said he intends to file legislation to ban new assault weapons and launch a gun buy-back program.

Coronavirus Casualty: Mental Health Treatment

June 12, 2020 Chris Tyree

Austin Sweigart, an event planner for the LGBTQ+ community who uses they and them pronouns, says that they had trouble getting mental health counseling and medical treatment during the pandemic. They are not alone. Public and private mental health c… — Austin Sweigart, an event planner for the LGBTQ+ community who uses they and them pronouns, says that they had trouble getting mental health counseling and medical treatment during the pandemic. They are not alone. Public and private mental health care providers in Virginia say they have been forced to change not only the ways they offer certain services to patients but also whether they offer them at all. Photographs by Christopher Tyree // VCIJ

Public and private mental health care providers in Virginia say they have been forced to change not only the ways they offer certain services to patients, but also whether they offer them at all. The virus has upended care across state facilities, which serve more than 200,000 Virginians every year

Virginia’s nuclear disaster plan is extensive, but key online resources 404

January 9, 2020 Chris Tyree

Color photograph of the Three Mile Island nuclear generating station, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1979. The reactors are in the smaller domes with rounded tops (the large smokestacks are just cooling towers).

A detailed web of PDFs released in response to a request for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management’s nuclear disaster response plans contains hundreds of pages of information about how the Commonwealth will handle a nuclear emergency, ranging from meltdown to dirty bomb to accidental weapon explosion.