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Politics is getting in the way of public safety in Virginia. Worse yet, politics is undermining our ability to protect the youngest and most vulnerable children in this state.

As current and former ����ֱ��s, we must speak out when the actions of elected officials undermine the health and well-being of our communities. Unfortunately, the recent  by Gov. Glenn Youngkin did just that. 

In total, the governor  that would have improved policing or criminal justice in Virginia. And in doing so he parted company with research-based reforms that are working around the country.

Perhaps most concerning was the veto of a bill that would have restricted ����ֱ��s from pursuing charges  and allowed judges to provide services and support to children without involving them in the juvenile justice system.

This bill aligned Virginia with most states and other parts of the world recognizing that criminalizing children 10 and under makes no sense as a public safety measure. Medical science has long established that youth are different from adults in terms of brain development, culpability, impressionability, impulsivity and understanding of crime.

A troubled child needs treatment, not incarceration

The neuroscience of human brain development is so well established that that youth under the age of 18 must be treated differently by our criminal law.

Indeed, cutting edge science is now recognizing that people by the courts.

As law enforcement professionals and parents, we find it unfathomable that anyone believes criminally prosecuting a child in elementary school is beneficial. A child who can barely read needs treatment, not incarceration, and there are countless ways to address accountability and also get that child the necessary support to thrive and grow without involving a courtroom or ����ֱ��.

How can we prevent child abuse?Tougher rules for home-school families would help.

The only outcome of putting any young person – much less a 10-year-old – in the criminal legal system is further trauma and exacerbating the very issues underlying the misconduct. And these results inevitably erode the safety of our communities.

Simply put, the veto of this important bill is a moral, practical and political failing of adults in Virginia perpetrated on our children and their future.

that by removing the threat of prosecution for young kids, the floodgates would open for gang members to recruit children to carry out gang-related offenses. Yet the bill would have given more protections to both children and the community by encourage or cause a child to engage in delinquent acts.

Moreover, we know from the experience of  under 11 from prosecution that the threat of gang members finding new recruits on elementary school playgrounds is simply not based in reality. 

Criminal justice reforms address drug cases, policing shortages

One other unfortunate veto further diminishes public safety by undermining  and inhibiting ����ֱ��ial discretion in drug cases, while another prevents communities from ensuring a broad base of applicants interested in joining law enforcement offices.

The governor derailed reforms that would have allowed ����ֱ��s to file a misdemeanor instead of a felony charge if a person is caught – with the key exception of fentanyl, which remained a felony. 

Youngkin claimed the bill diminishes “.” Yet mandating a felony conviction for possessing a barely traceable quantity of a drug imposes harsh and life-altering consequences for individuals as well as their loved ones that outweigh any “benefit” the governor can claim.

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A felony conviction hampers job prospects and prevents people from accessing essential services such as low-income housing. It’s hard to see how that punishment fits the crime.

We also know that the failed “war on drugs” approach of felony convictions for drug possession, let alone residue, does not deter or address the underlying problems that lead to problematic drug use. 

Meanwhile, he dealt a blow to police departments across the state.

As law enforcement agencies are experiencing a massive staffing shortage, Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have allowed recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to be . The bill would have helped address personnel shortages while giving people brought here illegally as children a chance to serve their communities.

In vetoing the bill, the governor decided to sacrifice safety and eliminate a path to upward economic mobility to stoke fear over immigration.

Youngkin has in modern history, but his sweeping and questionable actions have generated little backlash aside from remarks from the Democratic lawmakers who sponsored these bills.

Many seem resigned to the fact that this is how politics operates, with one party vetoing meaningful bills passed by the opposing party.

Yet we cannot afford to be complacent with such decisions, nor can we accept leaders’ unwillingness to embrace effective, data-based policies. We must demand our leaders put people over politics.

is the commonwealth’s attorney for Arlington County and Falls Church city, Virginia. is the commonwealth’s attorney for Albemarle County. Miriam Krinsky is the executive director of , a former federal ����ֱ�� and the author of “: Reimagining the 21st-Century Prosecutor.”