THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, October 4, 1994               TAG: 9410040459
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

ALLEN, LOCAL FOP SUPPORT CHAPMAN FOR 2ND DISTRICT SEAT THE GOVERNOR SAID THE CANDIDATE'S IDEAS ON CRIME REFORM MIRRORED HIS OWN.

Gov. George F. Allen lent his support Monday night at a fund-raiser for 2nd District congressional candidate James L. Chapman IV, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Owen B. Pickett.

Chapman used the occasion to announce that he had won the endorsement of the Norfolk chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

``They have come aboard this campaign in a big way,'' Chapman said. ``It signifies that they have examined the two candidates in this race and have decided that Jim Chapman is the man who will fight to protect victims and police officers.''

Allen called the FOP endorsement ``tremendous.''

``I told Jim on the way over here from the airport that when I received the FOP endorsement in my race last year that it was really a big deal,'' Allen said. ``It brings a great deal of credibility to the campaign.''

Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, a member of the Norfolk chapter of the FOP, which boasts more than 500 members, said that both Chapman and Pickett were invited to address the group last month.

Chapman showed up. Pickett did not.

``We put it to a vote that day, and Chapman won the endorsement,'' McCabe said.

Allen, whose proposal to abolish parole was passed by the General Assembly last week, said Chapman shares his philosophy on many issues. He praised the candidate's 10-point plan to fight crime - which includes such changes to the federal prison system as requiring all inmates to work, abolishing parole and mandating life imprisonment for certain drug-related crimes.

``It's a darn good plan, a plan that makes good sense,'' Allen said. ``It's the type of plan they should be looking at in Washington.''

More than 100 people showed up at the fund-raising event at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Virginia Beach, shelling out $250 per couple to hobnob with the governor.

Chapman, 37, a former prosecutor, ran against Pickett in 1992 but lost with 45 percent of the vote. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Gov. George F. Allen, left, said the FOP endorsement ``brings a

great deal of credibility to the campaign'' for Chapman.

KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE CONGRESSSIONAL RACE

by CNB