Delegate Askew to WAVY 10: “Hopefully it will dissuade people from calling the police and make them think twice before calling the police on someone walking down the street that they don’t think belongs there,”
The bill would expand hate crimes to include this type of behavior as well as increase the punishment for a false report from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony.
Askew says the punishment would not include a mandatory minimum. Instead, it would be up to the judge to sentence jail time.
Read the full article: https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/virginia-beach/virginia-bill-looks-to-make-false-911-calls-based-on-discrimination-a-hate-crime/
Read the law: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?202+sum+HB5098
