AWC,

That happens to me ALL the time now.

AWC

The release of any individual or the setting of any Bond is not a function of the police but the Magistrate or Judge so why is there ,it seems to me, to be no comments or outrage against them? IF they will not keep them in jail what is the recourse?

Just asking ?

Here are the modifications. If I am arrested for a violation of state laws or local ordinances then I will be checked as to legal status. Otherwise, I can be checked since it is not prohibited. I would imagine there would have to be a might good reason to check pre-arrest. I am assuming they are factual since I got them off the county website.

http://www.co.prince-william.va.us/default.aspx?topic=040016999990002294

• Subsequent and incident to any lawful arrest for a violation of a state law or
County ordinance, Prince William County Police Officers shall inquire into the
Citizenship or immigration status of the arrested person, and/or shall request that
such inquiry be made by personnel the Prince William Regional Adult Detention
Center before the person is released from custody. The Chief of Police is hereby
directed to formulate appropriate policies and procedures with the
Superintendent of the ADC to provide for the best use of their resources to
streamline the process of identifying criminals who are illegal aliens.
• Police officers are not to be mandated by the Department’s policies to inquire
into immigration or citizenship status before a person is arrested for a violation
of state law or County ordinance. Reasonable exemptions to require pre-arrest
investigation of violations of §19.2-81.6 (previously deported immigrant
suspected of new crime) of the Code of Virginia, and any similar offenses
created in future under state law, are permitted.

I was not questioning how many newspapers you subscribe to a day. I was merely comment on the fact that you had been derisive in the past about some of our local papers. Sorry for any confusion. I don’t know how many you get a day nor is it any of my business.

Neither of us knows the exact number of yeas and nays Supervisor Principi received over the newspaper article or his amendment. He probably didn’t bother to count either. Those who voted for him will probably do so again and those who didn’t won’t. At any rate, they have 3.5 years to make up their minds.

If everyone is happy with the resolution, I guess there is nothing to do but praise the 8 supervisors who voted in favor of it in its latest form. I see no reason for leaving anyone out of the damn you’s or thank you’s. All of them arrived at the same conclusion, albeit kicking and screaming on the part of some. They should still get credit for doing the right thing. Prince William County does not have endless money.

Yes, I’m happy with the resolution because a police officer can ask anyone about their legal status and not have to meet the challenge of probable cause. Even you Dolph. If you run a red light an officer can ask you for your legal status.

For the record, I get the two major newspapers and a regional one (not MJM). Plus, I check online news.

Try to look at the facts, Maam. Seems I remember an old tv show that asked that question.

How do you know what he wants? Have you spoken personally to him? I thought you hated the local papers.

Had he wanted to recind the resolution, he would have made that motion.

As it is now, legal status is asked after arrest (out of everyone), not based on probable cause. This saves the county several million dollars and does not expose it to lawsuits.

Many citizens of this county are very serious about removing the criminal element from our streets. Money is tight and people want to make sure there is enough to go around. Perhaps when financial times are better, we can afford to throw money around a bit more. Right now isn’t the time.

Mr. Principi has every right to do what he feels is best for the county and his constituents. I am sure he was admonished by some and praised by others.

In the end, the vote was unanimous and I believe everyone can live with the job ALL the supervisors did.

Mr. Principi wants to rescind the resolution. That was reported in the papers. His motion was to prevent officers from asking legal status in the field. Legal status was only to be asked of those brought to the ADC. He did that because he knew he would not get full support to rescind. His motion got voted down 7 to 1. The 1 being himself.

Mr. Principi derserved public reprimand and he got it from his consituents. He will probably continue to get reprimanded by his constituents. As I said before one lady commented that she preferred to have Hilda Barg back. That says a LOT!!!!

The motion was not passed because of the loop hole with people never seeing the jail but being released on bond. I believe his intent was the same as what passed, even if he didn’t express it that way.

Perhaps now the resolution business is settled our supervisors can all get on with running the county and perhaps Mr. Principi as well as others will have time to call their constituents back.

Mr. Principi wants to rescind the resolution. He deserves no credit. What he deserves, which he got some last Tuesday, is a reprimand by the citizens. I even read or heard someone say they wanted Hilda Barg back instead of Principi. That says a lot!

Part of that has to do with our HOA board focusing on quality of life issues. We have a resolution in place that if any home is vacant and the grass is over 8 inches high, we’ll send a contractor out to cut it and then bill the homeowner for the service plus add a hefty admin. fee after we’ve first sent a warning letter to the homeowner giving them the chance to rectify it. We’ve also hired a private patrol service staffed by retired Marines to keep an eye on things and act as a deterrent. We also actively go after convenants violations (although Virginia doesn’t give HOAs as much power to enforce these as it should.)

The other part, of course, is that the real estate market has corrected itself and prices are back where they realistically should be. At the height of the market, our home value probably had increased about 2 1/2 times over what we paid in 2000. Now, it is probably about 1 1/2 times over what we paid. Still not bad.

That’s simply not true, BW….take a look back at the Carter years, when 30 yr fixed mortgage rates were 13%. That absolutely shattered the market!

The interest rates were much higher then 13 % and that shattered the market but the value of the houses did not drop some 25 to 40 % in value. there is a hugh difference between not being able to buy or sell then loosing the value of your property. the real problem is how many years will it take to recover some of your value in the homes you own now and that is going to take many years.