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RICHMOND Amid fear that new technology is handing police unprecedented power, an unlikely coalition of liberals and tea party conservatives in Virginia is trying to curtail the use of drones, license plate readers and wiretapping devices.

Lawmakers have passed several bills despite fierce law enforcement opposition an unusual turn in a state where the General Assembly has historically embraced tough-on-crime measures, particularly in an election year such as this one.

Members in both parties say the curtailments of police power are necessary because technological advances have outpaced the law.

The Ben Franklin Liberty Caucus, a bipartisan group formed last year, pushed several of this years bills.

Weve got to get a handle on it, or were going to be living in a surveillance society, said Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah).

Its a weird alliance, acknowledged Del. Mark L. Cole (R-Spotsylvania), a conservative who sponsored legislation to limit civil asset forfeiture in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union and libertarian-minded tea party activists together lobbied lawmakers to support the bill.

This could be a really important session for protecting peoples property and rights from government overreach, said Claire Gastanaga of the Virginia ACLU. But, she added, theres plenty of room before the end of session for it all to come crashing down.

Under the measure restricting the use of license plate readers, which has been approved by both bodies of the General Assembly, police would be allowed to keep plate data for only seven days unless it is relevant to an ongoing investigation. Some departments have been holding onto and sharing such data for years.

Both chambers have also voted to shore up a law, passed last year, that requires a warrant for electronic searches and bans tracking devices, such as Stingrays, that mimic cellphone towers and trick cellphones into transmitting their location and other identifying information.

And after years of attempts and despite police desire for free rein, lawmakers are negotiating a regulatory framework for the use of drones, versions of which have passed both chambers.

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Va. bills that would curtail police powers create a weird alliance