Community Policing Act Data

Virginia Community Policing Act data is publicly available on the Virginia Open Data Portal website.

July 1, 2020: Will begin the collection of community policing data, as required by 2020 Acts of Assembly Chapter 1165, the Community Policing Act. This Act requires that each time a local law-enforcement officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff or State Police officer stops a driver of a motor vehicle, the officer shall collect certain data, based on the officer's observation or information provided to the officer by the driver.

July 1, 2021: Updates to the collection of community policing data, as required by 2020 Acts of Assembly Chapter 1165, the Community Policing Act.  This Act requires that each time a local law-enforcement officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff or State Police officer performs a “Nonconsensual Stop” certain data must be collected.

A nonconsensual stop by law enforcement of any person for the purposes of confirming or dispelling the suspicion of unlawful or unsafe activity or taking enforcement action in response to unlawful activity.

Pursuant to §§ 15.2-1609.10, 15.2-1722.1, and 52-30.2, all law enforcement agencies must report:

(i)   all investigatory motor vehicle stops,
(ii)  all stop-and-frisks of a person based on reasonable suspicion, and
(iii) all other investigatory detentions that do not result in an arrest or the issuance of a summons.

Each time a law-enforcement officer or State Police officer stops an Individual or Driver of a motor vehicle, such officer shall collect the following data based on the officer's observation or information provided to the officer by the Individual or Driver:

  • (i) the race, ethnicity, age, gender of the person stopped, and whether the person stopped spoke English;
  • (ii) the reason for the stop;
  • (iii) the location of the stop;
  • (iv) whether a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or whether any person was arrested;
  • (v) if a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the warning provided, violation charged, or crime charged;
  • (vi) whether the vehicle or any person was searched; and
  • (vii) whether the law-enforcement officer or State Police officer used physical force against any person and whether any person used physical force against any officers.

In addition to stop information, each state and local law-enforcement agency shall collect the number of complaints the agency receives alleging the use of excessive force.