Recalling his own roots in law enforcement, Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore spent lunchtime in Fairfax on May 15 with a group of retired Fairfax County police officers.
"My mother was my hometown’s first policewoman, now she’s the voter registrar. She spurred my interest in law enforcement. With a twin brother in the House, we have a family supporting law enforcement," said Kilgore, elected Virginia’s 42nd attorney general in Nov. 2001, garnering more than 60 percent of the vote.
In speaking of his mother and his hometown, Kilgore remembered his experiences as a prosecutor in Southwest Virginia regarding domestic violence. "The majority of violent crime cases came from domestic violence, not outside the home." Married women now have the same right to charge a husband with rape as an unmarried woman has had in making the same charge against any other man. "It’s an equal playing field," he said.
Sticking with a crime theme, Kilgore said, "We’ve abolished parole. A life sentence means you will serve life." Juries will have the opportunity to review a criminal’s record prior to imposing sentence. "That was so very important. Before that, we could not bring up the record. It was unfair. In the last 10 years, violent crime has been reduced 25 percent," said Kilgore.
KILGORE ALSO touched on issues of telemarketers, redistricting and DNA testing before fielding a question about dealing with terrorism in Virginia since Sept. 11. "We can’t leave it all to the federal government. They can’t be everywhere. Local officers are the first to respond. Virginia needed an anti-terrorism law — to expand the death penalty to include ‘evil masterminds’ to be subject to the same harsh penalties a suicide bomber or pilot would have suffered had they not died."
Another question came from retired investigator James "Jim" Riddel of Vienna. "I’m a Democrat and I voted for you," said Riddel, one of the founders of the lunching group, before asking about the recent case of the Republicans eavesdropping on Democratic phone conversations.
"It was wrong," said Kilgore. "We all know you’re not supposed to listen in on other people’s phone conversations. That’s dirty politics."
"He was just great," said retired Police Capt. Paul Puff of Centreville. "I loved his comments. He answers things head on. There’s no question, I’m ready to support him for governor," said Puff.
"I thought he was very good," said retired Police Lt. Floyd Wyatt of Vienna. "He’s very interested in law enforcement and has a good reputation as a big supporter of law enforcement," said Wyatt.
Riddel said Kilgore’s reputation within law enforcement circles was a primary reason for inviting him to the monthly luncheon. "We try to keep it even up politically," said the Democrat. "We started this back in 1993 as a group of retired Fairfax County police officers to help one of our retired sergeants who was sick. We wanted to get him out of the house and be with people. We help each other when we’re sick," said Riddel. The unnamed group meets once a month for lunch and features a different speaker.