any VA Troopers on the air?

[Z28CBR]

I am a long time reader of Officer.com, a current PO in NYC, although I haven't posted recently I still read the forums from time to time.
If I may, I would like to get a VA Trooper's point of view about an incident I am hearing about that occurred on a VA highway concerning a caravan that was enroute from volunteering at NO and returning home to NYC.
If there's any Troopers from VA I would like to thank you for responding.

[actiontrooper]

Virginia State Troopers

The silence is deafening!!!

[AzInv]

If that story is true, Good luck getting someone to respond..I would hold my head in shame if that was my agency..Well anyway hello Z28...Originally from the beautiful boro of Staten Island here..was on the job back East for ten years....

[ufresdave]

what happened? ive seen a few caravans from diff le agencies come through my city running code pretty much. I wish them the best. (if a va trooper gave them a problem for running lights and siren in a caravan, im gonna throw up)

[Z28CBR]

Shameful...them VA State Cops.

Greetings Gentlemen, I didn't think I would get a reply from any VA Troopers, hoping they are holding their heads down in SHAME!!
Yes Ufresdave, here's your vomit bag...they did it! They pulled over the caravan for riding the left lane and for lights being used when not responding to an emergency. Every other State gave them an escort through the state and VA pulls them over to warn them, lucky they didn't get a summons they say. Said they were getting complaints from civilians. Hold one, allergies are starting to kick in...aaahhhBULLSH1Taaaaaaaaa.... Excuse me, where was I?
Ah yes any VA Troopers care to comment?

Hi Az, How is everything out on the West Side?

Proud of my Brother's in Blue that helped out, Job well done!

[actiontrooper]

Official Virginia State Police response

This is one official response which has several disputed facts as witnessed by many uniformed members of the NYPD, Virginia was the only state that DID NOT provide an escort vehicle, which would have alleviated any miscommunication, but the letter does confirm the incident... Dear Officer:

Lieutenant Colonel E.A. Stockton, Director of the Bureau of Field Operations for the Virginia State Police asked that I thank you for and respond to your e-mail of September 20, 2005 regarding the recent caravan of police vehicles stopped in Virginia.

I regret your displeasure with the actions taken regarding this incident.

All troopers are trained and encouraged to use professional discretion in the execution of their duties as a police officer in that they may warn, summons or arrest for violations coming to their attention. Our troopers are urged to set high community standards both in their careers and in their personal lives by conducting themselves with professionalism, ethics and decorum.

The vehicles in question were stopped by an Augusta County Sheriff's Deputy in part, due to complaints received through our communications centers regarding the legality of the vehicles and the unsafe manner in which they were being operated, and after the vehicles were recorded traveling in excess of 90 mph with their emergency equipment activated.

The Department of State Police has a responsibility to promote highway safety in our Commonwealth and the actions taken by our trooper appear to be supported by the factual information regarding this matter.

It is also the policy of the Virginia State Police to investigate all allegations of misconduct of troopers and take appropriate action as deemed necessary.

Bud Cox
Business Manager
Virginia State Police
804-674-2127
[email protected]

[AzInv]

Hey Z28, things are different out here on the left coast, but its a great place to live..I put up with alot less BS....But I do miss the East Coast Brotherhood....God Bless the NYPD!!!

[rpd1794]

Ahhh....I almost hate to weigh in on this, but....

The vast majority of the Troopers, at least here in the Richmond area, are great guys and don't look at things any different than the rest of us do. That being said, there have been isolated incidents where they have put pen to paper on other coppers. But then so have officers in the county departments around here.

I think that if they did receive calls from citizens, they are obligated to do something, even if that something is stopping and warning. The cops go on their way, and the citizen shuts up because they think something was done. I wasn't there to see what really happened, but if the Trooper got s##@$y, he was probably fresh from the academy.

I'm not a Trooper, I work for the City P.D., but like I said, 99% of these guys are great to work with. Let's not VSP bash based on one incident.

[winq]

The bottom line is that VSP should a provided an escort and then there wouldn't have been a need to investigate the "complaint".Period!

I just don't get it. having read many a post on this board, it just seems that many (not all) southern LEO's don't give the same courtesy to fellow LEO's. Maybe it's the New York or Boston accent that throws them.

[MC34]

its not one incident either, there is something like 4 incidents in MY job alone over the last few years...in NY you'd have your locker welded shut or thrown in the toilet...

[MC34]

...that is 4 guys getting tickets in VA.

[chaser266]

I'm not a trooper, but I have heard that if a trooper was in the area and did not have a good reason for not acting on the BOLO information, he could be subject to an IA. Unfortunately, it seems to me that things are getting more and more political here in VA. Seems like bosses are more worried about a disgruntled citizen going to the media than respecting fellow LEOs.

However, just to play devils advocate, I think I can understand why some citizens might be upset by officers using emergency equipment (without an emergency) to go 90mph on the interstate when they would be jailed for doing the same (jail sentences for 90mph+ are common here) in this state.

That being said, I think that the citizen who gets upset enough about it to call the police needs to get a life.

[SUPERMAN878]

in my opinion the convoy was responding to an emergency. eventhough it was several states away. i also heard of virginia s.p. citing officers in marked patrol cars en route to d.c. for police memorial week.

[jarobins]

I am a long time reader of Officer.com, a current PO in NYC, although I haven't posted recently I still read the forums from time to time.
If I may, I would like to get a VA Trooper's point of view about an incident I am hearing about that occurred on a VA highway concerning a caravan that was enroute from volunteering at NO and returning home to NYC.
If there's any Troopers from VA I would like to thank you for responding.

I work for VSP and heard about this thread(s) and thought I would respond. As you can tell I don't post here much, mostly lurk from time to time. The incident that everyone is referring to was actually several separate incidents, unfortunately as things got passed along the incidents got blended together and exaggerated.

A convoy of about 50 NY police vehicles (unsure if NYPD) came into VA from TN on I-81. Our dispatch had been receiving complaints about them prior to them getting into VA. The convoy was in the left lane with their lights on, which really wasn't a big deal. They also were not traveling in excess of 90 mph. The complaints from motorists were because the convoy was traveling below the speed limit and not allowing other vehicles to pass. The convoy contained several large vehicles that could not maintain their speed going uphill in the mountains. When other motorists attempted to pass the convoy in the right lane the last car would move over and block anyone from passing.This continued even after the Interstate opened up to three lanes, at which time the convoy continued to block anyone from passing and occupied all three lanes.

We received numerous calls about the subsequent traffic backup but did not respond until a caller claimed that one of the convoy vehicles nearly struck her car and she wished to obtain a warrant against the driver. This is allowed in VA and at that point we were required to do something. It was compounded by the fact that on that evening a speed project was operating and every time the caller saw a Trooper she called back demanding to know why we were not doing something.

Eventually a supervisor caught up to the convoy and attempted to stop the lead car. The last car even attempted to block our unit (who had on his lights and siren) from passing. Finally he stopped the lead car because it was expected that the highest ranking NY officer would be at the front of the convoy. Upon contacting the NY supervisor he advised him of the complaints that we had received. He requested that the convoy move to the right lane and allow other traffic to pass. He did not threaten to charge anyone, nor was the possibility of charges mentioned. The convoy was then allowed to proceed on its way, with its lights still activated. Our supervisor then had to meet with the caller who claimed she was cut off and talk her out of trying to get a warrant for the driver she alleged cut her off.

I don't see as how we did anything wrong, as we had to do something. I think our supervisor handled it very professionally and did what he had to do. An escort was not provided because one was not requested. I don't see that it would have been possible anyway. At the time the convoy came through it was about time for shift change and out in the mountains there is typically only one Trooper working per county. We had several convoys come thru headed back home that night and could not tie up the only Trooper working escorting the convoys. Then it also gets into a political decision as to deciding how big a convoy must be to warrant an escort.

The letter posted from our Lt. Col is accurate in that a convoy was stopped in Augusta by a Deputy for excessive speed. Another smaller convoy had beed stopped by a Trooper earlier that night. The Trooper was on a traffic stop on the right shoulder when a convoy passed him traveling 85-100 mph in the right lane while he was outside his car issuing a ticket coming within a foot or two of him. The convoy could have moved over but didn't. Another Trooper stopped the convoy and asked them to show US a little courtesy and check up on their speed and move over for Troopers on traffic stops. They were let go, again with no threats of tickets. This same convoy was then stopped in Augusta County by a Deputy for traveling in excesss of 90 mph. I don't the details of this stop as it isn't my agency.

I fail to see how we acted inappropriately. The convoys (and 911 calls) put us in a bad position and not the other way around. For those bashing the VSP I'm sure this won't change things.

[nctroop14]

I am glad you cleared it up!! Sometimes it takes someone from the agency in question to explain. Throughout this thread there were a lot of "I heard this" or "I heard that" and that is how crap gets blown out of proportion and people keep adding onto to the story and they don't know what the hell they are talking about.

Glad everyone made it through safe. You never know who you are going to stop and you never know who is behind the complaint calls. I don't see anything wrong with stopping the cars, finding out the problem, and then letting them move on.

The convoy was traveling a long distance, you all knew SOME [email protected]# was going to call and complain about the cars speeding!!!!