virginia state police presentation to miltilia, police and public safety committee 1-16-15

8/10/2019 Virginia State Police Presentation to Miltilia, Police and Public Safety Committee 1-16-15

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Virginia Department of State Police

January 16, 2015


House Committee on Militia, Police, andPublic Safety Briefing


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Policing in the 21 st Century and VSPs Expanded Mission

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VSP is unique as the only full-service police department in theCommonwealth with statewide jurisdiction

VSP has tradi tional ly been associated with traff ic safety, part icularly on theinterstates, as well as criminal investigation

The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 forced a law enforcement paradigmshift , most notably for state law enforcement agencies

With the birth and evolution of homeland security, VSP has seen anunprecedented expansion of its mission and responsibilities

Critical infrastructure and key assets protection

Intelligence gathering and dissemination

Federal and local task force participation

Homeland security exercise participation

Operational planning and policing for large events


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Policing in the 21 st Century and VSPs Expanded Mission

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The operating environment has changed and the danger faced by VSPssworn personnel has increased due to civil unrest and anti-law enforcementactivities and sentiment

VSP has been serving an expanded and evolving role to shoulder a growinglist of mandates which frequently are unfunded including:

Technological advancement, social media, and technology related crime

Proliferation of gangs and their violent criminal enterprises

Human trafficking

Methamphetamine manufacture and distribution

Officer-involved shooting investigations

Emerging public safety issues heroin use, intellectual propertycrimes, etc.

These additional responsibi lities have significantly reduced resourceavailability


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VSPs Top Challenges

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Expanded miss ion and unprecedented workload

Insufficient staffing levels

Compensation and pay compression issues

Employee turnover

Budget reductions


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Unprecedented Workload

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Between 2000 and 2013:

Virginias population increased by almost 17% - over 1.1 mill ion citizens

Registered vehicles increased by 24% - 1.5 million additional vehicles

Licensed drivers increased by 770,000

These factors have created an increased demand for law enforcementservices

During the same time period:The total number of incidents (both dispatched and self-initiated)handled by troopers increased by almost 54% - from over 452,000 toalmost 700,000

The total number of hours worked by troopers handling incidentsincreased by 79% - from over 325,000 to over 583,000

Although the number of statewide traffic crashes decreased by almost13%, the percentage of crashes handled by VSP increased


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Between 2004 and 2013:

Agency assists provided by VSP uniformed patrol personnel increasedby over 10,000 an increase of 22%

The number of hours worked on special assignments (traffic controlservices and security at football games, NASCAR events, festivals,dignitary transportation and escorts, and protective services forgovernment officials) increased by almost 37% - from over 134,000 toover 184,000

With insufficient personnel resources available, VSP must divertpersonnel from the agencys primary mission to accommodate these

service requests


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Since 2004, the number of hours worked on specialty assignmentsincreased by 155% - from almost 37,000 to over 94,000

Search and Recovery Team calls for service increased by 100%, CanineTeam calls increased by over 42%, and Tactical Team calls increased byalmost 28%

When comparing all state police and highway patrol agencies in theU.S., VSP Tactical Teams lead the nation in the number of calls forservice

VSPs specialty personnel (divers, canine handlers, Tactical Team andTactical Field Force members) perform their specialty assignments inaddit ion to their full-time duties as a trooper

Between specialty assignments and required training to maintainproficiency, these personnel are frequently pulled away from patrolresponsibi lities and are not a reliable or consis tent addition to the areawork schedule


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Since 2000:

The number of investigations opened by General Investigation and Drug

Enforcement Sections almost doubled - from almost 6,500 to over 12,000and arrests increased by 210% - from almost 3,700 to over 11,000

The number of insurance fraud arrests increased by 823% - from 39 to360

The number of clandestine labs destroyed increased from 1 in 2000 to407 in just the first 11 months of 2014

The volume of data examined by the High Tech Crimes Division increasedexponentially from just over 18 gigabytes in 2007 to almost 197,000gigabytes examined in 2013

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of officer involvedshooting investigations, complex crime scenes, investigations of electedofficials, and major cases


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Insufficient Staffing Levels

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Despite the increased workload and staffing issues, VSP has not added anynew GF patrol trooper posi tions since FY 1997, when VSP received 105 newtrooper positions to offset 90 trooper posi tions that were eliminated in FY1993 due to budget cuts

In comparison, since 2000, sheriffs offices, cities, and county/town policedepartments have reacted to the increased demands for law enforcementservices by augmenting their sworn strength by almost 16% - an increase of

2,065 posi tions

37 duty posts across the Commonwealth are not authorized adequatemanpower to provide 24 hour coverage

There is no mechanism in place to include the cost of additional patroltroopers when new roadways are built

When comparing state law enforcement staffing levels, Virginia ranks 37 th inthe number of troopers per capita


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Compensation and Pay Compression Issues

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Cost of living has increased; however, VSP salaries have been relativelystagnant for the last 7 years

Pay compression exists across the entire agency (including civi lian staff)New employees experience lower starting salaries than theircounterparts in local law enforcement agencies

Co-workers in the same office, at the same rank/years of service earndifferent salaries

Sworn supervisors make far less than sworn employees they supervise

VSPs starting trooper salary ($36,207) is lower than Henrico County PD($43,032), Hanover Sheriff s Office ($38,556), Virginia Beach PD ($38,000),Chesapeake PD ($37,494), Norfolk PD ($37,230), and Richmond PD ($36,500)

For recruitment and retention of employees, it is imperative that VSP have acompetitive starting salary, provide annual pay adjustments, correctcompounding pay inequities, and prevent the reoccurrence of pay inequities


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Employee Turnover

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In CY 2014, VSP had 114 separations (58 sworn and 56 civilian)

More sworn employees (many with significant tenure) are leaving for betterpaying positions in the private sector, and with federal, and local lawenforcement agencies

In exit interviews, 72% of the sworn employees indicated they were leavingfor a job with a higher salary

In CY 2014, 22 VSP employees transferred to other state agencies for betterpaying positions

This turnover has a significant negative impact on agency operations due to

the inability of prospective employees to pass the background investigationand the length of time it takes to fill a vacant position and the money wastedon extensive training


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Budget Reductions

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Despite additional responsibi li ties and increased workload, VSP hasexperienced $90.3 mil lion in budget reductions since FY 2006

FY 2015 budget cuts total $12,393,325

These budget reductions have a significant negative impact on VSPs abil ityto purchase much needed equipment and technology, building repairs andmaintenance, etc.


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Budget Reductions

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$0$2,000,000$4,000,000$6,000,000$8,000,000

$10,000,000$12,000,000$14,000,000$16,000,000$18,000,000$20,000,000

FY06-07 FY07-08 FY08-09 FY09-10 FY09-10Caboose

FY11-12 FY11-12Caboose

FY11-12 FY12-13 FY13-14

State Police Reductions FY2006-FY2014


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VSP and Community Relationship Assessment

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For 30 years, VSP has been nationally accredited by the Commission on Accredi tation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.

Maintaining accredited status requires constant monitoring and updating ofpolicies and procedures to ensure compliance with nationally accepted lawenforcement standards

Communities across VA recognize VSPs abili ty to offer quality law

enforcement services

Based on recent civil unrest and anti-law enforcement activi ties, VSP hasfostered transparency by conducting candid discussions with keycommunity leaders about issues of concern, including the potential forinfi ltration of planned events by violent protestors

These discussions proved to be successful - after the Ferguson, MissouriGrand Jury decision, 20 to 25 protests occurred across VA that wereuneventful


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VSP and Community Relationship Assessment

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Public trust has been strengthened by the comprehensive investigation ofpolice officer-involved shootings by VSP and the transparent manner inwhich the results were presented to the public

Employing an even more diverse workforce will enable VSP to assign moresworn personnel to communities that are of the same ethnic group. Ourrecruiting efforts are targeted to mirror Virginias population throughoutreach efforts to civic and community groups and at colleges/universities,and military bases


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Community Outreach Efforts

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VSP is implementing the Department of Justice Building Communities of

Trust init iative to bring community leaders and law enforcement together fordiscussions about working collaboratively

This month, the Virginia Fusion Center is partnering with Fairfax CountyPD for the first meeting in Northern VA and a second meeting wi ll beheld in Central VA

The Fusion Liaison Officer Program engages private and public partners intraining them about current threats in VA and the importance of suspiciousactivity reporting

In 2014, 62 Fusion Liaison Officer presentations were provided to 2,979fire, rescue, EMS, public health, public school, university, corporate,mil itary, and federal, state, and local government personnel


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Community Outreach Efforts

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VSPs Statewide Gang Init iative includes proactive public outreach programs

In 2014, 55 presentations have been conducted with 1,700 attendees

VSPs High Tech Crimes Division continues to provide public outreachpresentations individually through the Northern VA ICAC Task Force

Since 2011, over 333 public events have been held for over 55,000attendees

Multiple public presentations, town hall meetings , and publ ic summits havebeen coordinated to educate and engage community leaders to developsolutions to the problems associated with heroin addiction

VSPs Insurance Fraud and HEAT Programs continually conduct outreach atlarge public gatherings

In 2014, VSP personnel attended 70 different community events


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Crime Trends

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Since 2010, crimes against persons (homicide, murder, non-negligentmanslaughter, kidnapping/abduction, forcible and non-forcible sex offenses,and assaults) have continually decreased each year

Over the last five years, property crimes have also decreased each year

During the same time period, drug offenses have increased

Methamphetamine manufacture and distribution continues to be a problemin the Commonwealth, especially in Southwest Virginia

Over the last several years, there has been an exponential increase in thenumber of clandestine labs dismantled

The Commonwealth has seen a resurgence in heroin use, with the NorthernPiedmont and Shenandoah Valley communities experiencing 49 heroinoverdose deaths and 120 injuries in 2014


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Crime Trends

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Over the last several years, technology related crimes have skyrocketed andalmost every criminal investigation has digital evidence

The Commonwealth has experienced a rapid growth in intellectual propertycrimes

Policing in the 21 st century is global in nature

VSP is actively involved in a cocaine smuggling operation throughDulles Airport that reaches into the highest levels of government in aforeign country

VSP thwarted a death threat in Northern Virginia based on a call that

was received from Israel

virginia state police presentation to miltilia, police and public safety committee 1-16-15

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