Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 31, 1994                   TAG: 9408010023
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIRGINIA BEACH FIGHTING TO UPHOLD ITS SAFE IMAGE

A place that draws a lot of vacationers can get hurt if it develops an image as a risky place to visit, even though the tourist in this case was well away from the oceanfront area where most visitors stay.

``New York City probably scares the devil out of a lot of people simply because of its reputation,'' said Henry Richardson, president of the hospitality group that made the reward offer.

Richardson's group also offered the victim, a Quebec resident who was on his honeymoon, an expenses-paid return visit ``to show him our city is relatively crime-free.''

``These types of incidents happen in virtually every resort destination,'' Richardson said. ``I think, on balance, we're as crime-free, or more so, than most resorts.''

That image is exactly what the city touted last fall. In an October 1993 news release, Virginia Beach officials cited FBI figures showing six straight years of having the lowest crime rate among cities its size in the country.

The figures - Virginia Beach has about 400,000 residents - put the city in the same comparison category with Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.

The June issue of Money magazine listed Virginia Beach as among the 15 safest cities in the United States. The only other Virginia community to make the list was Arlington.

But Virginia Beach's reputation has taken a beating in the past month with a pair of multiple slayings that matched each other as the worst in city history.

On June 30, four people were gunned down in a neighborhood bar. A week ago, four people were fatally shot in a house.

The two quadruple slayings raised to 28 the number of homicides in the city this year, creating the likelihood of a record year for murders. The previous record, 29, was set in 1991.

If those killings tarnish the city's image with tourists, it is not justified, Richardson said.

``I think they were two isolated incidents,'' he said. ``There seemed to be a robbery-drug motive in both cases. That kind of thing does and will happen anywhere in the country.''

``Fortunately, neither crime was anywhere near the resort area,'' said Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.

Police, including bicycle patrols, maintain a high profile along the strip of hotels, seafood eateries and souvenir shops during the summer. But Oberndorf said the city also has taken steps to keep violent crime in check in other areas, especially targeting youth in high-risk neighborhoods.

``I think what has happened, urban America has come to Virginia Beach,'' she said. ``Obviously, none of us are invincible. We never pretended to be.''