James,
Actually all police agencies in Virginia handle RADAR detectors the same way. They confiscate them and the owner never gets the detector back. The owner/user will also receive a ticket for possession of RADAR detector.
There is zero tolerance for RADAR detectors in the State.
I can tell you that if the detector is locked in a trunk, with no power source, you should have no problem. The same should go for a RADAR detector that is locked in a saddlebag with no power source.
On a side note, detectors are really becoming a waste of money. Most police agencies in Virginia are using LIDAR or taking steps to obtain LIDAR’s as soon as possible. RADAR detectors are useless against LIDAR. In addition, the number of stores and buildings using automatic doors has increased substantially. These devises operate on the same frequency as police RADAR. The end result is that the vast majority of signals received by a detector are false signals emitted by automatic doors.
The police do not tell anyone about this because public safety is served when motorists slow down because of a false signal.
It is very easy to obtain probable cause to stop a motorist for possessing a RADAR detector. Every court in Virginia has recognized the unassailable nature of this probable cause and it is rarely, if ever, questioned anymore. Ask me about it sometime and I will tell you more.
Devises sold to disrupt LIDAR are useless.
So, to answer your question, out-of-stater’s would probably not be very happy with the result of being caught with a RADAR detector.
Finally, and as a personal favor, please encourage your contacts to keep their speed down. In 27 years of law enforcement I cannot erase from my memory a single face of those I held while the life slipped from their bodies. It is my one lasting burden. Everyone knows that almost half of all fatal accidents involve drugs or alcohol, but what they overlook is that speeding is a factor in almost all fatal accidents. Everyone thinks they can handle speed. The danger is that motorists become accustomed to driving within a margin of speed closely related to national speed limit standards. They develop muscle memory in accordance with this driving behavior directly associated with the speed of visual recognition and reaction to input. They are driving at 60 to 75 percent of their ability which is not a problem. When a person is speeding (10 mph or more over the limit) they place themselves in a situation where they are driving at more than 75 percent of their ability. Often they are driving at more than 90 percent of their ability because they over-estimate their skills and they do not have the eye/ hand coordination (muscle memory/visual reaction speed) to deal with unexpected roadway hazards. They also suffer from divided attention because they are spending too much time scanning for police instead of scanning for all the other potential hazards. The risk of speeding is not worth the potential result.
I don’t know any motorcycle riders who truly spend sufficient time practicing emergency stopping and break away techniques. They need good muscle memory to perform a safe emergency stop.
Okay, okay, this is way more than you asked for. Let’s just call it a plea from an old policeman who saw too many needless deaths. Keep it safe and thanks for asking.