MARCH 2025. Blues Vol 41 No.3

GUEST COMENTARYPat

GUEST COMENTARYPat DroneyDems: Kids lack brain developmentfor deceptive police questions, fine for making gender altering decisions.RICHMOND, VA.- From the sameparty that believes children canmake life-altering decisionsabout what gender they arecomes a new bill that bans policefrom lying to minors, whichnarrowly passed Virginia’s statesenate on Tuesday, CourthouseNews reports.On a 22-18 vote, the bill, introducedby Delegate Jackie Glass,a Democrat, would “prohibit officersfrom knowingly and intentionallymaking false statementsabout any material fact, includingby use of inauthentic replicadocuments, before or during acustodial interrogation of a childto secure the cooperation, confession,or conviction of suchchild.”Deception is a long-held investigativetechnique sometimesused by officers to investigatecases or obtain a confessionfrom a suspect. The UnitedStates Supreme Court affirmedthe legality of deceptive interrogationtactics by police in Frazierv. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731 (1969).“There’s something, I think,very wrong with having a systemthat we juggle with whether wetreat children as children,” Glasssaid in an interview. “I think withthe advent of the way we surveilourselves nowadays or trackthings on computer, there arejust so many tools now that Idon’t think we need to do that.”The bill's passage through theHouse of Delegates on Feb. 4,strictly along party lines, 51-48,has sparked heated debate. Proponentsargue that investigatorsshould not employ the same interrogationtactics on children asthey do on adults. This stance, akey reflection of the Democrats'mindset, has raised significantconcerns among law enforcementprofessionals.“Children don’t have quite thesame brain development as anadult does; they’re more susceptibleto being influenced,especially by an adult, especiallyby an adult wearing a uniform,”Majority Leader Scott Surovellsaid on the Senate floor.“You basically can’t try to trickkids to get them to confess.”According to Democrats, childrenhave enough “brain development”to decide they wantto be a girl if they were born aboy, and vice versa. But not to be“tricked” by police officers.Opponents of the measureargue that deceptive techniquesare vital tactics to stop crime.State Senator Bryce Reeves, aRepublican and former narcoticsdetective, related a personalstory of when he lied to a minorinvolved with a gang to gain accessto a firearm used in recentcrimes.“I had enough to charge thatjuvenile delinquent for somethingelse, but instead, I told hima lie so I could get to the gun,”he said. “If that solved the issue,I’ll do it every day because thattook a gun off the street, out ofgang members’ hands.”Conversely, State SenatorAngelia WIlliams Graves (D)supported the bill, claiming thatlying contributes to public distrustof the police.“We teach our children thatthe police are supposed toprotect and to serve,” she said“What we do not do is teachour children that they should beexpecting to be lied to by thepolice.”Surovell said such lying usuallytakes the form of police tellinga juvenile suspect that there isDNA evidence or that a friendconfessed to their involvementin a crime.“It’s unfortunate that somebodywould want to take advantageof a child like that. I knowcrimes are serious, but therereally ought to be a different setof rules when it comes to interrogatingchildren when theirliberty interests are at stake, andtheir future record is at stake.”Republican State Senator MarkObenshein argued that the bill’spassage could block efforts tostop school shootings.20 The BLUES - MARCH ‘25

The BLUES - MARCH ‘25 21