Beginning July 1, 2020, the Virginia Department of State Police, Uniform Crime Reporting Unit began the collection of investigatory stop data based on the creation of the Community Policing Act. Updates to the original legislation were made per Chapter 37 of the 202 Special Session I.  This act was sponsored by Delegates Luke Torian and Lashrecse Aird in 2020 and signed into law by Governor Northam.

As a result of the updated Virginia code sections (15.2-1609.10 and 52-30.2), law enforcement officers are now required to collect and submit to the State Police the following data of any individual who is subject to an investigatory (nonconsensual) stop: (i) 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) if 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 used physical force against any person and whether any person used physical force against any officers.

Data analysis under the Community Policing Act is centered primarily on select police and citizen encounters. In Hanover County, based on a five-year average, deputies will have contact with more than 300,000 citizens annually amidst a population of 113,000. In addition, in a five-year average, more than 60% of all arrests in Hanover County were of non-residents, indicating a citizen contact demographic more reflective of a larger statewide perspective.    

VSP Community Policing Data Page: https://data.virginia.gov/stories/s/rden-cz3h