For a short time after the passage of HB2004 in 2021, records of closed police investigations in Virginia were opened to public scrutiny. With the changes from that bill, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act made disclosure of criminal investigative files mandatory when the investigation was “not ongoing.” After the law took effect, the family…

How transparent are Virginia’s private police departments? Do they comply with their obligations under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act? Mostly they don’t. I filed a simple request with each of Virginia’s private police departments and published the results.