Title 52. Police (State)
Subtitle .
Chapter 6. Uniform Crime Reporting Program
Chapter 6. Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
§ 52-25. Uniform crime reporting system established.The Superintendent shall establish, organize, equip, staff and maintain within the Department of State Police, at such departmental locations as the Superintendent may direct, a uniform crime reporting system for the purpose of receiving, compiling, classifying, analyzing and publishing crime statistics of offenses known, persons arrested, and persons charged and other information pertaining to the investigation of crime and the apprehension of criminals, as hereinafter provided. The Superintendent shall appoint or designate necessary personnel to carry out the duties and assignments in accordance with rules and regulations pertaining thereto promulgated by the Superintendent.
1974, c. 577.
A. Whenever a law-enforcement agency confiscates a firearm in connection with a criminal investigation or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall immediately take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such firearm.
B. The Superintendent shall establish a procedure within the Department of State Police to obtain information regarding all firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the possession of any state or local law-enforcement agency of the Commonwealth. All law-enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth and of political subdivisions of the Commonwealth shall share with other Virginia law-enforcement agencies all information regarding firearms seized, forfeited, found, or otherwise coming into the agency's possession that are believed to have been used in the commission of a crime and shall enter such information into a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Superintendent shall adopt regulations prescribing the method for reporting this information and the time and manner of submission of the information to a firearms tracing system maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice.
C. Except as provided in § 19.2-386.29, whenever a firearm is identified as stolen, the law-enforcement agency shall return such firearm to the rightful owner thereof, if known, provided the owner is not prohibited from possessing the firearm and the agency does not need to retain the firearm as evidence in a criminal prosecution.
The Superintendent is authorized to maintain liaison and to cooperate with law-enforcement and criminal justice agencies of all counties, cities and towns and all other agencies, departments, and institutions of the Commonwealth, other states and of the United States in order to develop and carry on a comprehensive uniform crime reporting program for the Commonwealth. Uniform crime reports for the Commonwealth shall be published by the Superintendent and distributed in an electronic format to the General Assembly and the office of the Governor, annually. The Superintendent shall publicize the availability of the reports to all law-enforcement agencies, attorneys for the Commonwealth, and the courts.
1974, c. 577; 1979, c. 83; 2007, c. 135.
The Department shall render all necessary aid and assistance to all reporting agencies in order to fulfill the requirements of the uniform crime reporting program for the Commonwealth.
1974, c. 577.
All Commonwealth, county and municipal law-enforcement agencies shall submit to the Department all periodic uniform crime reports setting forth their activities in connection with law enforcement. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any police agency not paid entirely from public funds.
1974, c. 577; 1979, c. 83.
The Department of State Police shall include arrest statistics for violations of §§ 18.2-46.2, 18.2-46.3, 18.2-46.3:1, 18.2-46.3:3, and 18.2-55.1 in the annual Crime in Virginia report.
2008, c. 746.
The Department of State Police shall include any officer-involved shooting and whether such shooting was determined to be justified in the annual Crime in Virginia report. Any law-enforcement or public safety officer required to make such report shall receive training concerning such reporting requirement.
For the purposes of this section, "officer-involved shooting" means the discharge of a firearm by a law-enforcement officer, as defined in § 9.1-101, that results in the death or serious bodily injury of another.
2016, c. 333.
The Superintendent shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations prescribing the form, general content, time and manner of submission of such uniform crime reports of all offenses designated by him, including, but not limited to, part I and part II offenses as set out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1974, c. 577.
The Department shall correlate reports submitted to it and shall compile and submit reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on behalf of all agencies of the Commonwealth, as may be required by the federal standards for the uniform crime reporting program.
1974, c. 577.