Immigration arrests in Virginia have surged over the past year, with thousands more people being taken into custody and a growing share of them being detained without prior criminal convictions. According to an analysis of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, obtained by VPM News through the Deportation Data Project’s FOIA-released dataset, ICE has made nearly 11,000 arrests in the commonwealth during the period between President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration and early March 2026. Data also shows that 13 minors under the age of 6 years old were detained by ICE in Virginia during that same period.

A routine audit of how Richmond Police Department personnel use Flock cameras found one policy violation in which data from the city’s license-plate readers was improperly shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police announced Thursday. An FBI special agent contacted Richmond police asking for an image of a vehicle believed to be connected to a homicide investigation in Washington, D.C. Despite local police department rules limiting how Flock images are used, an RPD sergeant complied with the FBI’s request. … “While I appreciate the sergeant’s willingness to assist in a homicide investigation, sharing ALPR data – even of a single vehicle – with federal partners or agencies outside the Commonwealth of Virginia is prohibited,” Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said in RPD’s news release.

A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by a Salem pastor who accused a parent of damaging his reputation during a heated debate over the Roanoke County School Board’s policies affecting LGBTQ+ students nearly three years ago. Tom McCracken had listed multiple statements by Tiffany Sandifer — including an allegation that he grabbed her then 15-year-old daughter by the shoulder during a meeting — in a defamation lawsuit that sought $750,000 in damages. But in the end, he settled for a $1 bill and a public apology from Sandifer. … McCracken, the founding pastor of CommUNITY Church who has since retired, claimed that Sandifer called him a pedophile as they left an acrimonious school board meeting and later falsely accused him online of stalking children. The dispute arose from packed school board meetings in which board members adopted a policy that banned rainbow flags and other classroom displays not directly related to curriculum — a decision that followed a parent accusing school staff at Glen Cove Elementary School of being sexual predators.