VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System

Police Service

• Chief of Police Service, NWIHCS, Raul de Velasco
• Deputy Chief of Police, Omaha & Lincoln, Ron Feather
• Deputy Chief of Police, Grand Island, James Arends 

The Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, in June of 2010, created a video of the VA Police Law Enforcement Training Center and the purpose of VA Police Officers. By clicking on this paragraph you will be taken to the Office of Public and Intergovermental Affairs website where the video is housed.

What is VA Police Service?

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police is the VA's uniformed police service, responsible for the protection of VA medical centers and other facilities operated by Department of Veterans Affairs and its subsidiary components of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) as well as the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) respectfully. The VA Police have several divisions and operate separately but alongside the VA Law Enforcement Training Center (VA LETC) under the umbrella of the Office of Security and Law Enforcement (OS&LE).

OS&LE is the parent agency of the VA Police within the Office of Operations, Security and Preparedness. It also facilitates support, guidance, funds and regulation of the Police Service and its corresponding independent facilities. Upper-level management and specialty positions other than police officer include: detective, special agent, inspector and criminal investigator. Other semi-standardized rank structures are developed within each VA Police Service at the local level. These serve to reflect job title, function and/or role and range from sergeant to chief. The VA Police also maintain groups of specialty service elements such as K-9, bicycle, and motorcycle patrols.

The VA Police are an armed enforcement and protective service entity that operates in and around the various VA medical centers, national cemeteries and other VA facilities located throughout the United States to include Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Among others, the VA Police are a specialized federal law enforcement agency, whose officers have full police powers derived from statutory authority to enforce all federal laws, VA rules and regulations, and to make arrests on VA-controlled property whether owned or leased.

Although OS&LE exists and policies and training are standardized, VA Police operate throughout the United States under the direction of individual facility directors (much like a municipal agency would function under a mayor). VA Police Service is made up of more than 2,800 appointed officers and administrative personnel. The agency's motto is "Protecting Those Who Served."

The VA Police has entry qualifications comparable to other law enforcement in the United States. All VA Police officers are required to have a minimum of two years experience in law enforcement with arrest authority (in federal, state, municipal or military police), or have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Applicants must also undergo a physical abilities test, fingerprinting, physical examination, psychological evaluation and background investigation.

Upon selection, VA Police officers go through a supplementary eight-week training course at the VA Law Enforcement Training Center located on Fort Logan H. Roots in Little Rock, Ark. Additionally, VA Police officers receive continuous in-service and specialized training (written, practical and scenario based) to include intermediate weapons, tactical, active threat, ground defense, firearms and low light firearms, contact and arrest procedures on a regular basis. Officers also may partake in a series of advanced training courses offered by the training center on a selective basis to include crime scene investigations, traffic accident investigations and technical survelience.

VA Police Officers are certified in CPR as first responders, the use of Oleoresin Capsicum pepper spray, the PR-24 Side-handle Police Baton, and the SIG Sauer P229 DAK Version (uniformed officers) and SIG Sauer P239 DAK Version (plain clothed officials/investigators) chambered in 9 mm. The agency is transitioning from the PR-24 Side-handle baton to the Monadnock AutoLock expandable straight baton.

VA Police Service History

The Veterans Administration was founded in 1930. The VA Protective Service was established that year and was charged with maintaining order, protecting persons and property, and ensuring fire safety. As the VA evolved, the fire safety role was turned over to the Engineering Service and the Protective Service became a security guard force.

By a 1973 federal law, the guard force was abolished and the VA Police (0083 series) was established. The President and Congress made this decision due in part to the changing needs of the VA and an increase in police-related matters not usually handled by a guard force or community law enforcement agencies. The agency has expanded in size since its inception and it now constitutes the largest uniformed federal police agency in the United States.