Bill Text: VA HJR501 | 2015 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Study; JLARC; reorganization of law-enforcement agencies; report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-10 - Left in Rules [HJR501 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2015-HJR501-Prefiled.html
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15100393D WHEREAS, the responsibility for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth is currently spread among numerous state agencies; and WHEREAS, the citizens of Virginia expect the Commonwealth to employ professional law-enforcement officers who enforce the laws of the Commonwealth across the state with consistency and fairness; and WHEREAS, it is important to ensure that law-enforcement agencies are accountable and operating as statutorily authorized; and WHEREAS, consolidation of government functions often provides significant cost savings for the Commonwealth; and WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Virginia has several state agencies that have law-enforcement functions; and WHEREAS, when more than one agency becomes involved in the same operational area, the chance of mutual interference is greatly increased; and WHEREAS, there is a need to address this interference by deconfliction in order to eliminate any risk to the public and increase officer safety; and WHEREAS, the primary state law-enforcement agency in the Commonwealth is the Virginia State Police; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be directed to study reorganizing all or some state law-enforcement functions under the Department of State Police. In conducting its study, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall (i) identify all state agencies with law-enforcement functions; (ii) determine the law-enforcement investigatory functions defined by the Code of Virginia for each of the agencies with law-enforcement functions; (iii) examine the history, budget, staffing, facilities, assets, and current activities of each law-enforcement agency function or division within an agency; (iv) determine whether those agencies or divisions are adequately and cost-effectively performing their statutory law-enforcement duties; (v) determine the level of basic and specialized law-enforcement training for each law-enforcement function or division within an agency; (vi) determine whether agencies have expanded their law-enforcement powers beyond what is specified by the Code of Virginia; (vii) identify whether specific law-enforcement functions are duplicated among state agencies; (viii) determine whether law-enforcement functions need to be more specifically and narrowly defined among the state agencies with law-enforcement powers; (ix) determine whether consolidating all or some state agency law-enforcement functions under the Department of State Police could improve law-enforcement efficiency and effectiveness, including minimizing mission conflict, improving uniformity and compliance with professionally recognized policies and procedures, minimizing the risk of harm to the public while ensuring officer safety, increasing interoperability, improving disaster and emergency response, increasing staff effectiveness through better and more consistent training, improving state security, and reducing duplication of services and resources; (x) assess other state and federal approaches to organizing law-enforcement operations across different functional and geographic areas; and (xi) propose options and make recommendations as appropriate for the consolidation of all or some law-enforcement agencies under the Department of State Police. All agencies of the Commonwealth, including but not limited to the Department of State Police, Marine Resources Commission, Department of Military Affairs, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Charitable Gaming Board, Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Corrections, State Lottery Department, Virginia Capitol Police, and state institutions of higher education, shall provide technical assistance and access to agency data to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission for this study, upon request. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall complete its meetings for the first year by November 30, 2015, and for the second year by November 30, 2016, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the next Regular Session of the General Assembly for each year. Each executive summary shall state whether the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summaries and reports shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website. |
