Attorney General Bob McDonnell recognizes Bedford officers

BEDFORD — Attorney General Bob McDonnell joined in recognizing Bedford-area police officers Friday for their work with domestic violence victims, without mentioning that he’s a candidate for governor in 2009.

It was the third year in a row McDonnell presented the awards for Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, which was sponsored by Bedford Domestic Violence Services, said Conni St. John, the program’s director.

McDonnell said domestic violence calls are among the toughest for police officers “because of the emotion and other facets” attached to calls in the middle of the night. He said nearly half the murders in Virginia involve domestic violence and such calls “probably are a law enforcement officer’s worst nightmare.”

Discussing politics in an interview after the awards were presented, McDonnell said the three Republican candidates who have announced for the office he now holds “show what a deep bench we’ve got on our side.”

McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling have been endorsed by the state’s Republican Party leadership as a team for the state’s top two offices, with the election still 18 months away. McDonnell said that gives the party a head start on figuring out how to attract voters.

The party has at least three potential candidates for McDonnell’s current office. John Brownlee of Roanoke has resigned as U.S. attorney and indicated he may run for attorney general. State Sen. Ken Cuccinelli of Fairfax and Del. Steve Shannon of Vienna also have announced for the office.

McDonnell said that having lost the race at the top of the ticket in the last three statewide elections, the Republican Party’s task is to win over the independent voters.

“I still consider Virginia to be a right-of-center state. It has voted for the Republican presidential candidate 44 years in a row,” McDonnell said, and has eight of 11 congressional seats, two statewide offices and more members of the General Assembly.

“The thing we have to do is be able to clearly state the conservative principles that made governance better in Virginia, that have accounted for very strong business climate, the very strong educational system, the very good criminal justice system.

“And then, we have to just solve the quality-of-life problems that people are really concerned about.

“The people who control every election are independents, who don’t really care much about one party or the other but they want to know, ‘Who do I trust and who’s got the better vision for fixing problems in education, transportation, the environment, and other things that they might care about,” McDonnell said.

The party’s unity for the top two offices in 2009 give it time to figure out those answers, McDonnell said.

Police officers honored during the ceremonies Friday were: Jo Dooley and Shannon Walker of the Bedford Police Department; and sheriff’s officers Scott Arney, William Watkins, David Coughlan, David Marsh, Shannon Zimmerman, Darryl Saunders and Ricky Gardner.

Bedford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Krantz also was recognized, as were William Crumpacker of Bedford’s emergency management services and Lynchburg city investigator Todd Rodes.

The awards mostly recognized either safety, counseling or assurance provided to violence victims, which in one case extended to an officer’s giving a victim $15 for gas to reach a domestic violence shelter.