VIRGINIA – A bill to extend the Line of Duty benefits to private police departments has failed in a delegate subcommittee.
After a deadly shooting back in June, officials in Nelson County and Wintergreen Police Department have been working to extend Virginia’s *line of duty* benefit program
“Chris Wagner on June 16th was killed,” said Dennis Russell, the Wintergreen Police Chief in Nelson County. “His family received no benefits, we did have to open up a private fund, the first fund to get him any benefits. These officers are going out every day, wearing a badge just like every other officer, putting their life on the linen and Chris did that.”
Russell said it would not cost the Commonwealth because they are privately employed.
“We go out and get an insurance policy, or policy of some kind, that protects our officers, and we pay for that,” Russell said.
On Thursday, January 18, 2023, they were blindsided after the bill failed at a subcommittee.
“I was in total disbelief,” said Russell. “I was in shock really to be honest with you”
Jesse Rutherford, the Board of Supervisor for Nelson County, said he believes this is a political move.
“No concerns were brought up to any of the stakeholders a part of this,” said Rutherford. “We walked out and a lot of individuals came up to us and were like ‘Wow, I can’t believe this is where party line politics is going to sit.’ It’s very disheartening. It’s a slap in the face to those who work the hardest for us in hard times. When there is a crisis, when there is a bad situation, these people are upfront in the center”
Delegate Ellen Campbell proposed the bill and she said she wasn’t expecting the results they got.
“It was not something that I expected to be controversial or really be something that we really wouldn’t all join together and be on board with,” Campbell said.
She said the bill still has a chance of surviving – it has also been introduced to the Virginia Senate.
If it survives, it will then be sent to the House of Delegates to be reviewed before the governor can sign it into law.