THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701120061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 126 lines
A Norfolk sheriff's deputy was fired and at least one Virginia Beach police officer was reassigned to desk duty because of a federal law barring anyone ever convicted of a crime involving domestic abuse from buying, selling or possessing a gun.
The law is causing confusion among local law enforcement agencies, which are scrambling to check criminal backgrounds of officers who carry guns. Some are requiring officers and agents to sign forms certifying they have never committed such a crime.
The law, which went into effect Sept. 30, caught many by surprise. It forbids anyone ever convicted of a domestic misdemeanor - assaulting a family member - from buying, selling or possessing a gun. It carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison or up to a $250,000 fine, or both.
Critics of the law argue that it unfairly penalizes people convicted of crimes many years ago. Republicans this week introduced a bill in Congress that would prevent the Clinton administration from retroactively enforcing the law.
Jerry Elizondo, a Norfolk sheriff's deputy for about a year, was terminated from the department in November following a misdemeanor conviction for assaulting his wife.
Sheriff Robert McCabe said he had mixed feelings about the situation.
``In my opinion, he was a good deputy,'' he said. ``But, on the other hand, it was an assault on his wife. You can't just let your emotions run away to where you do what you would not ordinarily do. In this case, the emotions got away.''
McCabe said he is concerned about the new law in its current form. ``I think the intent of the law is very good,'' he said. ``But I think the time frame going back 30 or 40 years needs to be reviewed, along with the scope of who it includes. . . . The problem I have with the law is that it goes too far.''
In Virginia Beach, which has the area's largest police force, one officer was reassigned after officials learned of a domestic violence conviction that ``went back many years,'' said police spokesman Lou Thurston. That officer has been placed in an administrative job. He was not identified by officials.
The Police Department typically assigns officers who cannot work on the streets to other posts, such as answering phones.
Virginia Beach officers are being required to sign a certification stating they have not been convicted of domestic violence, Thurston said. That allows the officers to continue working while background checks are being done to verify those statements. Any officer who doesn't disclose a past conviction would probably be fired. The department rigorously enforces a zero-tolerance stance on lying.
At the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Department, no deputies have been affected, spokeswoman Linda Jacocks said. ``We are doing record checks on all sworn employees,'' she said. ``We are also requiring each deputy to answer a questionnaire, which asks them if they have been convicted of domestic assault.''
If the backgound checks discover a conviction, ``then obviously they cannot be employed as law-enforcement officers,'' she said.
Because of the law, several area law-enforcement agencies have begun screening would-be employees for domestic-violence convictions.
The local departments and agencies that could be affected include any federal agency with officers that carry guns, such as the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The law could affect a host of other agencies and private employers, including the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, postal inspectors, U.S. marshals, security officers at Christian Broadcasting Network, Norfolk Southern Corp. police, and police at local colleges and universities.
There is no reliable estimate of how many people across the state or nation are convicted annually of misdemeanor offenses related to domestic abuse. Police expert Victor Kappeler, head of the Criminal Justice Graduate Program at Eastern Kentucky University, estimates that 7,000 law enforcement officials are affected nationwide, according to The Associated Press.
Across the country, law enforcement officials have felt the teeth of the new law in a variety of ways. In December alone:
Three Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were stripped of their weapons and given 90 days to accept a demotion to civilian status or resign from the force. The deputies are suing to block enforcement of the law.
A veteran Dallas police officer, who pleaded no contest last summer to beating his son, was ordered to stop carrying a gun.
Five Columbus, Ohio, police officers, including a sergeant and a state highway patrol trooper, were stripped of their duties and weapons.
Three Denver police officers were ordered to turn in their guns and take desk jobs.
Recently, a Milwaukee police officer was removed from active duty and assigned to a desk job.
Elsewhere in Hampton Roads, the Portsmouth Police Department said that, so far, no guns or badges have been confiscated and no one has been reassigned to administrative duty.
``We are not aware of anyone at this point that it (the law) affects,'' said Rhonda Sommer, a Portsmouth police administrator. ``We have assigned it to our Internal Affairs folks to check into.''
Portsmouth Sheriff Gary W. Waters has issued memos to members of the Portsmouth Sheriff's Department urging those convicted of domestic assault to come forward.
So far, no one has. The department runs record checks on new employees and has found none with assault records, said Lt. Betty Aronson, a department spokeswoman.
Chesapeake police are reviewing internal records to see if any officers are in violation of the new federal law. That process could take weeks, Major Louis J. Tayon Jr. said. Chesapeake Sheriff's Col. Claude A. Stafford Jr. said his agency is reviewing personnel backgrounds and doing records checks.
``We have not had anybody reassigned,'' he said. ``Should we come across someone who falls under this category, we'll deal with it at that time. . . I'm sure every department head is going through records and hoping this won't affect us.''
The U.S. attorney general's office is requiring all FBI agents to sign a certification saying they have never been convicted of domestic abuse. The Treasury Department has issued a memorandum to local Secret Service and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms offices requiring the same certification.
Most federal agencies would eliminate applicants who had a conviction for violence, spokespeople said, so impact locally is expected to be minimal.
After conducting their records checks, Virginia State Police found no employees in violation of the law, said Maj. Jerry Conner, a deputy bureau director in the Richmond office. ``Our good-faith feeling was confirmed,'' he said.
But between Nov. 8 and Jan. 8, the state police reported 138 confirmed denials of gun permits to citizens as a result of the new law, according to Lt. George Crowder, assistant records management officer with the state police in Richmond. MEMO: Staff writers Cindy Clayton, Mike Mather and Lynn Waltz, and news
researcher Maureen Watts, contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: GUN CONTROL LAWS