I seriously hope this isn’t a common thing
Michael Youlen stopped a driver in a Manassas apartment complex on a recent night and wrote the man a ticket for driving on a suspended license. With a badge on his chest and a gun on his hip, Youlen gave the driver a stern warning to stay off the road.
The stop was routine police work, except for one fact: Youlen is not a Manassas officer. The citation came courtesy of the private force he created that, until recently, he called the “Manassas Junction Police Department.â€
He is its chief and sole officer.
He is a force of one.
And he is not alone. Like more and more Virginians, Youlen gained his police powers using a little-known provision of state law that allows private citizens to petition the courts for the authority to carry a gun, display a badge and make arrests. The number of “special conservators of the peace†— or SCOPs, as they are known — has doubled in Virginia over the past decade to roughly 750, according to state records.
When you can’t pass the Academy, but you really want some “authoritiiii!!!”, make friends with a judge and you too can be an arm of the state.
Well, more like a finger actually.
So, like, a booger-hook of the state.
He has no qualified immunity. He will be personally head accountable for any wrong doing. He will in fact me more accountable than
crooks in blueI mean cops.Gee, that’s even better than a concealed carry badge! Do they “deputize” out of staters, too? As a Washiington resident, it’d be cool to have a Virginia badge.
“Do you know why I stopped you, sir?”
(Flashing Virginia credentials) “Sorry officer, I was going 10-7 to the Krispy Creme. Got in a bit of a hurry I guess.”
“Carry on – be safe out there…”