Senate Bill No. 386

(By Senators Anderson, Buckalew, Sharpe, Bowman and Ross)

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[Introduced February 16, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one-a, article six, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to crimes against the peace; emergency situations; authorizing the establishing of police lines, perimeters or barricades; and criminal penalties.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one-a, article six, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. CRIMES AGAINST THE PEACE.

§61-6-1a. Control of riots and unlawful assemblages; establishing police lines, perimeters or barricades.

Members of the department of public safety, sheriffs and mayors and those acting under their order, may, when engaged in suppressing a riot, rout or unlawful assemblage, or whenever fires, accidents, wrecks, explosions, crimes or other emergency situations where life, limb or property may be endangered may cause persons to collect on the public streets, alleys, highways, parking lots or other public area, cordon off any area or areas threatened by such fire, accident, wreck, explosion, crime, riot, rout, or unlawful assemblage or other emergency situations and may take all actions which are necessary and reasonable under the emergency to restore law and order, and such actions may be, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Establishing such areas, zones or perimeters by the placement of police lines or barricades as are reasonably necessary to: (i) Preserve the integrity of evidence at such scenes; (ii) facilitate the movement of vehicular and pedestrian traffic into, out of and around the scene; (iii) permit firefighters, law-enforcement officers and emergency services personnel to perform necessary operations unimpeded; and (iv) protect persons and property. Any police line or barricade erected for these purposes shall be clearly identified by wording such as "POLICE LINE -- DO NOT CROSS" or other similar wording. If material or equipment is not available for identifiable law-enforcement officials and positioned to indicate a location of a police line or barricade, no access shall be given to any person or persons attempting to cross police lines or barricades without proper authorization. Such a scene may be secured no longer than is reasonably necessary to effect the above-described purposes. Nothing in this section may limit or otherwise affect the authority of, or be construed to deny access to such scene by, any person charged by law with the responsibility or rendering assistance at or investigating any such fires, accidents, wrecks, explosions, crimes, riots, routs, unlawful assemblages or other emergency situations. Media personnel from information services such as press, radio and television, when gathering news, are exempt from the provisions of this section except that it is unlawful for such persons to obstruct the law-enforcement officers, firefighters and rescue workers from the performance of their duties at the scene. These media personnel proceed at their own risk.
(a) (b) Prohibit the sale, offering for sale, dispensing, furnishing or transportation of firearms or other dangerous weapons, ammunition, dynamite or other dangerous explosives in, to or from such areas.
(b) (c) Prohibit the sale, offering for sale, dispensing, furnishing or consumption of alcoholic beverages or nonintoxicating beer in a public place in such areas, and prohibit the transportation of alcoholic beverages or nonintoxicating beer in, to or from such areas.
(c) (d) Impose curfews, as required, to control movement of persons in, to and from such areas.
(d) (e) Enter a private dwelling or other building or other private place in such areas when in fresh pursuit of a rioter, when in search of a sniper who has fired upon a person from such a dwelling or other building or place or when in search of firearms, other dangerous weapons, ammunition, dynamite or other dangerous explosives when there is reason to believe that such items are stored in the said dwelling, building or place and that they will be removed therefrom before a search warrant could be obtained.
No person shall may wilfully willfully fail to obey a lawful order of any mayor, sheriff, deputy sheriff, municipal police officer, member of the department of public safety, or other officer, given pursuant to this section.
Any person who violates an order given pursuant to the authority of this section shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the establishment of police lines, perimeters and barricades in emergency situations.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.