                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISPERSAL OF UNLAWFUL OR RIOTOUS ASSEMBLIES; DUTIES OF OFFICERS (§ 18.2-411)

When any number of persons, whether armed or not, are unlawfully or riotously
assembled, the sheriff of the county and his deputies, the police officials of
the county, city or town, and any assigned militia, or any of them, shall go
among the persons assembled or as near to them as safety will permit and command
them in the name of the Commonwealth immediately to disperse. If upon such
command the persons unlawfully assembled do not disperse immediately, such
sheriff, officer or militia may use such force as is reasonably necessary to
disperse them and to arrest those who fail or refuse to disperse. To accomplish
this end, the sheriff or other law-enforcement officer may request and use the
assistance and services of private citizens. Every endeavor shall be used, both
by such sheriff or other officers and by the officer commanding any other force,
which can be made consistently with the preservation of life, to induce or force
those unlawfully assembled to disperse before an attack is made upon those
unlawfully assembled by which their lives may be endangered.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 18.1-254.8, 18.1-254.9; 1968, c. 460; 1975, cc. 14, 15.