McDonnell and Cuccinelli Unveil Public Safety Plans

Yesterday, at the Virginia Chiefs of Police Conference, Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli announced their public safety plans to continue making Virginia a safer place to work and to raise a family.  They were also joined on stage by Polly Franks, who is a crime victims advocate. While McDonnell served as Delegate and Attorney General, he worked tirelessly to keep Virginians safe by continuing to strengthen the penalties against sex offenders and continue the crackdowns on gang violence.

Here are some of the highlights of the plan:

• Requiring a form of intensive lifetime monitoring of violent sexual predators not eligible for civil commitment but who continue to pose a danger to society
• Proposing that the penalty for a convicted sex offender who fails to register for Virginia’s Sex Offender Registry be elevated to a Class 6 felony
• Creating a Domestic Violence Prevention Advisory Board to advise on domestic violence issues
• Improving the protective order system by clarifying our current laws and simplifying the process
• Making Virginia’s protective order forms more consistent with neighboring states to enhance cross-jurisdictional enforcement
• Making the commission of a violent crime in the presence of a child a separate Class 4 felony
• Expediting the process to remove children from abusive and neglectful homes by having appeals for termination of parental rights go directly to the Court of Appeals rather than Circuit Court
• Cracking down on career drug dealers by proposing tougher mandatory minimum sentences for repeat offenders
• Breaking the cycle of addiction by supporting and encouraging the use of drug treatment court programs
• Increasing mandatory fees for convicted criminals
• Strengthening the juvenile justice system
• Supporting growth and expansion of the Commonwealth Challenge Program for youth offenders
• Requiring juveniles charged with repeat violent felonies to be tried as adults in circuit court
• Cracking down on crimes against the elderly
• Combating identity theft
• Ensuring crime doesn’t pay by strengthening asset forfeiture

McDonnell said that his public safety plan would help his jobs plan, as you can not bring businesses or create new jobs without having a safe place to conduct business.

Cuccinelli, who announced his own individual public safety plan, said:

“I’m pleased to be here with the next Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell. Like Bob, I believe that the first priority of government is public safety. To that end, Bob and I will work together to ensure all Virginians are safe from those who do not abide by society’s laws. We will work to ensure our children are safe from predators who use computers to perpetrate their crimes; to protect senior citizens from those who harass and pressure for deals that are nothing but scams; and to protect our communities, urban and rural, from drugs and those who push them in our communities. Our focus always has and always will be on preventing crimes, and punishing those who commit them.”

Cuccinelli’s plan focuses on McDonnell’s initiatives, in addition to focusing on reforming Virginia’s mental health program, which impacts both public safety and public health. While serving as a State Senator, Cuccinelli has been a champion of mental health reform and public safety.