SB 695

Abstract

Virginia Crime Commission; surveillance technology;report. Adds to the powers and duties of the Virginia Crime Commission(the Commission) the power to conduct an annual study on surveillancetechnology, defined in the bill, utilized by local and state law-enforcementagencies throughout the Commonwealth, including (i) the technology'spotential impact on privacy rights and civil liberties, with particularattention to potential disparate impacts on different communitiesand populations; (ii) the technology's effectiveness for law or regulatoryenforcement purposes, and the likelihood that evidence collectedthrough such technology will be considered inadmissible in a courtof competent jurisdiction; (iii) the potential for the misuse ofthe technology or any data that is collected through the use of suchtechnology and safeguards to prevent such misuse; (iv) existing lawsand regulations governing the technology and whether additional legislationis necessary to regulate its use; and (v) any recommendation as towhether technology utilized by a locality should be implemented throughoutthe Commonwealth. The bill provides that the Commission shall submita report of its findings to the Chairmen of the House Committee forCourts of Justice, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and theGovernor within six months of beginning the study and shall makesuch report available to the public on the website of the Commission.