THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410110109
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Local businesses and civic groups have put wheels in motion to beef up security in neighborhoods threatened by crime.
The management of Plaza Apartments last week donated a $500 mountain bike to the Police Department's First Precinct to give needed mobility to officers patrolling roughly a 10 block area of low and moderate-income housing nestled between South Plaza Trail and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway.
Three weeks ago the Third Precinct Citizens Advisory Committee - after a yearlong campaign that raised $2,000 - presented that police precinct with its first four bicycles to start up a two-wheeled mounted patrol in the Bayside area.
At The Plaza Apartments complex, the recipient of the new bike was Officer C.T. Mras, who has been on the force for two years. The burly ex-college football player from New Jersey quickly demonstrated the vehicle's versatility Friday morning by slipping up on a suspected drug dealer across the street from the Daytona Drive apartment complex.
After a brief scuffle with a group of youths Mras and four other bicycle patrolmen handcuffed two young men and a young woman and sent them to jail.
The three were connected with a ``crack house'' located farther up the street, said Sgt. J.P. Spry, a First Precinct supervisor on the scene at the time.
``It's about the only place in the neighborhood that's a problem now,'' he said.
The 288-unit apartment complex has hired 12 Virginia Beach police officers to patrol the area during their off-duty hours, said manager Donna Bobrow. The policemen since have extended their patrol to cover the entire neighborhood.
Nine of the officers are now equipped with mountain bikes, said Spry, and it is a major factor in reducing crime, particularly drug dealing, in the area.
``This was one of the original trouble spots in the city,'' he said. Since the First Precinct began concentrating on the area, street crime has gradually decreased to a point that nighttime disturbances are only occasional.
``The bikes are quiet and can get places around here in seconds that officers couldn't cover on foot,'' Spry said. ``It bothers some folks around here, because they can't hear them coming. A lot of these drug dealers are moving somewhere else.''
Another bike patrol benefit, said Spry, is the one-on-one contact the officers make with community residents. ``People get to see the cops up front and not in cars - they're more appreciated,'' he said.
The latest bike donation was made by Drucker & Falk, a Newport News company that specializes in multi-residential property management.
In another gesture of good will the company donated a room at The Plaza Apartments for use as a community center. It provides recreation for neighborhood youngsters and monthly meeting space for the local civic league, said Bobrow.
Diane Horne, property manager for Drucker & Falk, said the company intends to donate another room for use as a day-care center for neighborhood youngsters.
Alan Alto, chairman of the Third Precinct Citizens Advisory Committee, said the four mountain bikes presented by his group will be used by police officers to patrol the Lake Edward Area, the Triangle Business District near Independence Boulevard and Cleveland Street and other neighborhoods as needed.
``They've already been involved in several arrests and a couple of chases,'' said Alto.
The Merchants Association at Haygood Shopping Center recently staged a fair to raise funds for police equipment related to the bikes, such as locks, lights and pouches, Alto said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Donna Bobrow, manager of Plaza Apartments, checks out the $500
mountain bike ridden by Beach police officer C.T. Mras that was
donated by the apartment's management company. It paid off
immediately.
by CNB