Private armed security guards in Virginia are heavily regulated by the state, and their arrests are accordingly not private action. United States v. Day, 590 F. Supp. 2d 796 (E.D. Va. December 1, 2008):<\/p>\n
For the purposes of our analysis, it is enough to observe that the Virginia legislature specifically granted Officers Slader and Costa the power to arrest as armed security officers. These officers were vetted, trained, and continue to be subject to disciplinary action under the aegis of the state’s Criminal Justice Services Board. In this context, the state is not a mere passive participant; rather, it affirmatively encouraged and enabled these officers to engage in the complained-of conduct, for without their state-granted authority, these officers could not have acted as de facto police. In short, the state was the genesis of their power and activities rather than a mere passive recipient of the largess of their actions. Cf., e.g., United States v. Kinney, 953 F.2d 863 (4th Cir. 1992)(officers’ mere presence insufficient to turn privately initiated search into government conduct).<\/p>\n
Clearly Officers Slader and Costa were operating as de facto police on the night in question. The officers were “patrolling” the area in their unmarked sedan (a car of sufficient similarity to the stereotypical image of an unmarked police car that a Chesterfield officer “assumed” it must be the security officers’ vehicle); noticing a potentially disorderly gathering in their rounds, the officers returned to this area, parking where they could observe the burgeoning situation. Observing a “verbal altercation” that escalated to Day’s retrieval of a gun from a nearby car, the officers exited their vehicle, drawing their weapons and yelling “freeze” as they ran towards Day. Both officers were wearing black uniforms with gold emblems on the sleeves, displaying a gold badge virtually identical to a police shield, and bearing handguns; in short, they were the quintessential image of law enforcement as they ran with weapons drawn towards Day. The officers placed Day in restraints, “terried” him, and began questioning him about the gun and whether he had “anything illegal” on his person. Clearly the officers acted with the intent of deterring crime and assisting law enforcement. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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