Bill seeks to set up fund to boost Virginia State Police pay
Laura Vozzella, The Washington Post
Feb. 19, 2021
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An officer with the Virginia State Police adjusts her helmet outside the Capitol after a pro-Trump mob breached the building Jan. 6.Washington Post photo by Bonnie Jo Mount.
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia state Senate is backing a plan to boost pay for state troopers at a time when the agency - in the national spotlight last month for responding to the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol - is struggling to attract and retain sworn officers.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, would establish a trust fund that State Police could tap to make its salaries more competitive with those offered by local police and sheriff s departments. The fund would be supported by an extra $4 fee tacked onto the cost of registering a car in the commonwealth, raising an estimated $30 million a year.
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Jarrott was 28.
He was remembered as a leader, a family man and a trusted police officer. He was the kind of person you wanted by your side in case something went wrong, said Marco Valle, an NMSP officer and friend, who gave the eulogy during the funeral services held at Maverick Stadium, the Lordsburg High School football field.
Attendance at the stadium was limited to family and law enforcement officers due to COVID-19 restrictions, but an Albuquerque news station broadcast the services live on Facebook. Virtual attendance rose throughout the broadcast, with more than 3,000 watching concurrently at one point.
Jarrott is the first New Mexico State Police officer to die in the line of duty in 20 years, and the first in 30 years to be fatally shot, according to the agency.
LAS CRUCES - Days after the death of New Mexico State Police Officer Darian Jarrott, the president of the State Police Association released a video accusing the state Legislature of an “attack on law enforcement.”
“When you have senators and representatives personally attacking law enforcement, tying our hands so that we can’t enforce the laws, we can t protect ourselves, we can t protect the citizens, something has to be said,” Sgt. Jose Carrasco said. “You’re giving the criminals more rights than the officers.”
Carrasco targeted Senate Bill 227, which he said would remove the tools law enforcement officers need to protect themselves and would result in more police shootings. And, he objected to House Bill 4, which would remove qualified immunity from civil lawsuits.