CODE OF VIRGINIA

EMERGENCY CONTROL OF TELEPHONE SERVICE IN HOSTAGE OR BARRICADED PERSON SITUATION
(§ 18.2-50.2)

A. The Superintendent of the State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer
or sheriff of any county, city or town may designate one or more law-enforcement
officers with appropriate technical training or expertise as a hostage and
barricade communications specialist.

B. Each telephone company providing service to Virginia residents shall
designate a department or one or more individuals to provide liaison with
law-enforcement agencies for the purposes of this section and shall designate
telephone numbers, not exceeding two, at which such law-enforcement liaison
department or individual can be contacted.

C. The supervising law-enforcement officer, who has jurisdiction in any
situation in which there is probable cause to believe that the criminal
enterprise of hostage holding is occurring or that a person has barricaded
himself within a structure and poses an immediate threat to the life, safety or
property of himself or others, may order a telephone company, or a hostage and
barricade communications specialist to interrupt, reroute, divert, or otherwise
control any telephone communications service involved in the hostage or
barricade situation for the purpose of preventing telephone communication by a
hostage holder or barricaded person with any person other than a law-enforcement
officer or a person authorized by the officer.

D. A hostage and barricade communication specialist shall be ordered to act
under subsection C only if the telephone company providing service in the area
has been contacted and requested to act under subsection C or an attempt to
contact has been made, using the telephone company’s designated liaison
telephone numbers and:

   1.  The officer’s attempt to contact after ten rings for each call is
   unsuccessful;

   2.  The telephone company declines to respond to the officer’s request
   because of a threat of personal injury to its employees; or

   3.  The telephone company indicates when contacted that it will be unable to
   respond appropriately to the officer’s request within a reasonable time
   from the receipt of the request.

E. The supervising law-enforcement officer may give an order under subsection C
only after that supervising law-enforcement officer has given or attempted to
give written notification or oral notification of the hostage or barricade
situation to the telephone company providing service to the area in which it is
occurring.  If an order is given on the basis of an oral notice, the oral notice
shall be followed by a written confirmation of that notice within forty-eight
hours of the order.

F. Good faith reliance on an order by a supervising law-enforcement officer who
has the real or apparent authority to issue an order under this section shall
constitute a complete defense to any action against a telephone company or a
telephone company employee that rises out of attempts by the telephone company
or the employees of the telephone company to comply with such an order.

HISTORY: 1992, c. 479.