(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday vetoed his first bill, which would have created a new policing auditor position, according to the governor’s office.
Del. Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, sponsored the bill, HB 670. It would have let the Arlington County Board of Supervisors — a left-wing body — appoint an independent policing auditor.
“The independent policing auditor shall support any law-enforcement civilian oversight body created by the governing body and shall have all the powers of the law-enforcement civilian oversight body, to the extent that such powers are delegated to the independent policing auditor by the oversight body,” the bill’s text reads.
The bill passed in the House of Delegates 65-35 with significant bipartisan support (17 Republican supporting and 35 Republican opposed) and in the Senate along strict partisan lines.
Youngkin vetoed the bill because he believes that the Democrat-controlled Arlington County Board of Supervisors will appoint a partisan policing auditor to harass law enforcement officers and further erode their morale.
The bill’s summary mentions that the auditor will have “the powers of the law-enforcement civilian oversight body,” which are extensive, according to Youngkin.
These powers include the right “to make binding disciplinary determinations, including termination and involuntary restitution.”
Youngkin said these powers cannot be safely vested in a “unilateral and expansive authority.”
Law enforcement officers would not have any input in the oversight body.
“The prohibition against any person currently employed as a law-enforcement officer from service on a law-enforcement civilian oversight body conduces the appointment of an independent policing auditor without any formal input from a law enforcement officer,” Youngkin wrote.
