Sorry about the lack of posts. I’ve been busy trying to earn a living since the budget death march is over. You can only ignore your real life for so long before all of the accumulated stuff unloads like an avalanche. As it turns out, that is more or less what happened. In any event, things at City Hall seem to be moving along nicely. The report on the zoning enforcement activities is due in a few weeks and the council will have the chance to review our staffing levels with that data in hand. I hope we can bring that to a quick resolution and provide whatever resources are necessary. If they need staff we will have to dig deep but dig we will.
The VCDL people have been to speak to City Council twice now and I’m still mulling over that situation. I see where they are coming from as I’m a big bill of rights guy but I also believe that we’ve taken appropriate action in response to their complaint – we’ve apologized for the incident, the Chief has implemented training on the law and disciplinary action was taken. There were calls from those that spoke at City Hall to terminate the Chief but I don’t support that. I believe the Chief to be a careful, professional officer who takes this business seriously and he’s given me no reason to think otherwise. We’ll see what happens.
April 28, 2007 at 1:44 pm
The people at VCDL set the police up. They claim they were there to have a meal. I know, they know and everybody else knows that is BS. They go in there toting their guns (I am sure they are compensating for something else) looking for a confrontation. Tell the rednecks to go to SW Virginia and have a nice day. The situation has been handled, let it go.
April 30, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Andy,
I can understand how you need to catch-up, and also, have some family time as well. I would imagine that going through the budget process is about as painless as a root-canal.
I do not think the VCDL thing was a set-up, at all. This organization doesn’t “red-team” local PD’s, hoping for a bad response. Quite the contrary, those who do chose to exercise their right under VA state law to conceal carry, would rather the Police not become involved, as no laws are being broken.
With regard to their second visit, I would take them very seriously. The seven idividuals who made the initial complaint could be looking at bringing a civil rights suit forward. A second look at this thing by someone from the outside might be a good thing. If a suit is brought, everything will come out in discovery anyways.
April 30, 2007 at 1:11 pm
“Quite the contrary, those who do chose to exercise their right under VA state law to conceal carry, would rather the Police not become involved, as no laws are being broken.”
That should have read “open carry”.
April 30, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Take a moment and Google “open carry Virginia” – other police
departments have have had encounters with VCDL members.
May 1, 2007 at 8:16 am
Were I to Google it, I would find that open carry is perfectly legal in the State of Virginia. When a law-abiding citizen is choosing to exercise their rights under both the VA and US constitutions, decides to enter an establishment that serves alcohol for on-site consumption, the citizen is required to openly carry their firearm. The owner of the establishment can always ask the patron to leave, and likewise, can ban the possession of firearms in his establishment. If the patron refuses to comply, then he or she is guilty of trespassing.
In recent cases that I am aware of, including Tony’s, the citizens were breaking no laws. In one case, two young men were sitting in a Fairfax coffee shop, and were open-carrying because neither possessed a CHP. In this case the responding officer illegally confiscated their firearms. He was later reprimanded, and the firearms were returned, along with an apology from the Chief of Police in Fairfax City. In another case, several people were open-carrying at Champs in Reston. The Police responded to a citizen’s complaint, approached the individuals, determined that no laws were being broken, and quietly left the establishment. Another case, involved two individuals walking through Reston Town Center, openly-carrying. One responding officer tried to tell the citizens that they were breaking a law. This officer was corrected by a fellow officer, and again, the Police quietly left.
No one from VCDL is saying that the MPD should not have responded to the initial call, and they have praised the 911 dispatcher for her knowledge of the law. What they object to is the conduct of the responding officers AFTER they determined that no laws were being broken. The citizens were, in my opinion, harassed on the scene. Reading the emails that were discovered via FOIA, it is clear that some of the officers have nothing but contempt for these law-abiding citizens. This alone puts the MPD squarely in the wrong.
To my knowledge, none of these cases ended in a lawsuit, which I believe is where this case may be headed. I believe what the citizens in this instance are looking for is an apology, and an admission that the MPD handled the situation poorly. The test is, did the citizens at any time, break the law? Since there were no charges filed, citations written, etc., we can assume that the answer is “no”. This will be quite easy to prove. I read the FOIA documents, and based on what I read, I found the MPD official report lacking.
Therefore, I would predict that should a suit be filed (and I predict one will, which to my knowledge would be a first), the citizens have the stronger case. Previous events of this nature, in cases where the Police may have initially mishandled the situation, were settled with a simple apology. I think this one could have been as well. In light of this, it is my opinion that the MPD continues to mishandle this issue. This violates the “First Rule of Holes” as in “When you find yourself in one, stop digging.”
I have never been embarrassed for my city before, until now.
May 1, 2007 at 11:49 am
I thought they already got their apology from Manassas? What more do they want?
May 5, 2007 at 10:49 am
So, I guess when driving the speed limit, I am attempting to set up the MCPD? How is exercising a right attempting to set up the police?