HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 823 Offered January 30, 2007 Commending the Virginia Department of State Police. ----------
Patrons-- Carrico, Abbitt, Albo, Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Barlow, Bell, Bowling, Brink, Bulova, Byron, Callahan, Caputo, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Dance, Dudley, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Frederick, Gear, Griffith, Hall, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Howell, A.T., Howell, W.J., Hugo, Hull, Hurt, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, D.C., Jones, S.C., Kilgore, Landes, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Marsden, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., May, McClellan, McEachin, McQuigg, Melvin, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Moran, Morgan, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Plum, Poisson, Purkey, Putney, Rapp, Reid, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Scott, J.M., Shannon, Sherwood, Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Suit, Tata, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Waddell, Ward, Wardrup, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Watts, Welch, Wittman and Wright
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WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of State Police is recognized for its extraordinary service to the citizens of the Commonwealth on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, in 1932, the General Assembly gave Virginia motor vehicle inspectors the power to enforce the Criminal Code of the Commonwealth as well as the Motor Vehicle Code, and these inspectors were later identified as troopers and became the Virginia Department of State Police; and

WHEREAS, the General Assembly established a system of motor vehicle safety inspections in 1932, which became a model for the nation; and

WHEREAS, in 1932, the Virginia Department of State Police was issued its first fleet of enforcement vehicles, including motorcycles and automobiles; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of State Police, independent yet supportive of other law-enforcement and criminal justice agencies, continues to be a professional, responsive, state-of-the-art public safety agency that provides patrol and investigative services to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and its visitors; and

WHEREAS, the troopers of the Virginia Department of State Police daily risk their lives in the performance of their duties in order to fulfill their pledge to serve and protect the Commonwealth's motoring and residing public; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate the Virginia Department of State Police on the occasion of its 75th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Superintendent of the Virginia Department of State Police, as an expression of the General Assembly's gratitude for the vital service provided by all of the outstanding state troopers to the citizens of the Commonwealth.