Virginia State Police - Virginia Witness Protection

One of the most important short-term responses to violence is the prompt and successful arrest and prosecution of people who commit violence. Unfortunately, over the last 20-30 years the "solve rate" at which law-enforcement officers can identify and arrest individuals who commit violent crime--and therefore the rate at which prosecutors can hold those individuals accountable in court--has steadily fallen. One important contributing factor to that decline is a well-founded fear among victims and witnesses of crime that criminal actors or their families or associates will retaliate against victims or witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement especially those who testify in court. In the 1990s, Virginia established a witness protection program but has never funded that program. This funding would help to jump-start Virginia's witness protection program, which would seek to provide temporary lodging, relocation, enhanced security, and other similar resources to victims and witnesses who face intimidation and would assist in holding accountable the small number of people who drive a disproportionate amount of the violence in our communities. Victims and witnesses deserve a government that ensures their safety when they do their civic duty to protect the community.

The primary purpose of the Witness Protection Program (WPP) is to allow the Department of State Police to fund the WPP and thereby aid Virginia law enforcement agencies for the protection of witnesses during the prosecution of cases, which meet the established witness protection guidelines. The services of the WPP are available to all law enforcement and criminal justice agencies of all counties, cities, and towns of the Commonwealth.