Become Involved With The Virginia State Police

During my conversation with Virginia State Trooper John Carpenter, he mentioned that citizens often asked him and fellow troopers about laws, both current and new. He recommended that people research legalities online for the most up to date information.

“Starting 1 July, there’s new laws coming out. I’m not going to say it officially over the radio, because I wanted to get some clarification on some stuff, but I ask people, if you have internet access, get to a computer. We’re 16 years inside the 21^st century, everybody’s got a computer somewhere, a smartphone, or go to the library and get on one – Google it. The concealed carry permit laws have changed. Get on our website – www.vsp.virginia.gov – and it’s going to have a big map of the country. The concealed carry laws have changed – we no longer honor people’s permits from out of state that we used to. So if you’ve got family coming into the state that have a permit, chances are that we no longer honor that permit, so they need to either keep the gun in the car or keep it at your house. So be very mindful of all that.”

He also pointed out ways to become personally connected to the State Police, even to the point of potentially joining the force.

“We have a Facebook page – VSP is getting into social media. We have a Facebook page, so get on Facebook, friend us if you want. You can go on there, you can report things that you see via Facebook. They’ve got somebody in Richmond that monitors that, and they pass it out to the actual dispatchers, and say “Hey , this person’s seeing this, can a guy go around there and have a look.” Feel free – you can friend it, if you’re travelling somewhere in the state, and you want to see what’s going on, jump on the Facebook page. You’re going to see the human side of the State Police- we are human, we’re not robots. You’re going to see pictures on there of troopers playing at the Academy, shoveling snow, getting selfies of each other, throwing snowballs at each other.

“So get on the website, and we’re actively recruiting. I normally don’t do this, but we are actively recruiting. If you’re looking for a job, it’s a good job. Get on the website, you’ll see the big campaign hat off on the right, and as of the first of February this year, it’s an ongoing application process. You can apply, put your name in the hat, and they’ll call you up to come test, and take the PT test, and run around the gym”