THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040407
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Five Norfolk police officers on bikes patrolled the parking lot of the Hillcrest Clinic Tuesday as security at abortion clinics across the nation was increased after violence in Massachusetts and Norfolk.
The police presence at Hillcrest followed a shooting rampage Saturday at the clinic by a gunman whom police believe to be 22-year-old John C. Salvi III. Salvi was arrested later Saturday, only blocks away.
Salvi was being held in the Norfolk City Jail, charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling. He is also accused of shooting seven people, two fatally, at two Brookline, Mass., abortion clinics on Friday. He is charged with murder there.
The police patrols are only one of several security measures that will be tried to make abortion clinics safer. President Clinton on Monday night directed the nation's U.S. attorneys to create task forces made of local, state and federal law enforcement officials to form plans to address security for all abortion clinics in their jurisdictions, said Gina Talamona, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.
Talamona said Clinton also has directed the nation's U.S. marshals to consult with all abortion clinics to make sure they have the proper information to communicate with all law enforcement agencies about potential threats.
``We got the instructions (Monday) night and are working as quickly as possible to get guidelines out to the U.S. attorneys,'' Talamona said.
Talamona said she could not divulge details about what guidelines will be recommended.
Meanwhile, Hillcrest officials were reassessing how they can provide protection for customers and employees.
``Law enforcement officials and abortion clinic workers are independently evaluating the security situation,'' said Suzette Caton, spokeswoman for the clinic.
Saturday's attack in Norfolk has left some people fearful to use the three-story Bel Aire Building. Hillcrest Clinic is located on the building's second floor.
Some customers of the Navy Federal Credit Union said they would prefer to do business at a building that does not also contain an abortion clinic. ``I would like to see the Navy Federal Credit Union out of that building altogether,'' said Chief Petty Officer Robert Dunlop, 38, of Norfolk.
Another customer of the credit union, 35-year-old Athena Ramos, agreed that an abortion clinic should not be in ``a building like this.''
A North Carolina abortion clinic with plans to open a branch in Hampton Roads said the recent violence in Norfolk will not deter it from opening the region's third clinic.
William Brenner Jr., owner of the Triangle Women's Health Center in Chapel Hill and A Women's Choice in Raleigh, will open Tidewater Women's Health Center Inc. within the next few months, according to a spokesman.
``Anyone who's associated with our facility has legitimate concern like others at other clinics,'' the spokesman said. ``We will get security measures, make sure it's safe.''
The Peninsula Women's Clinic on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News also performs abortions. Workers there did not return telephone calls Tuesday. ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN/Staff
Police maintained a heavy presence at Hillcrest Clinic on Tuesday,
the day the suspect in Saturday's shooting appeared in court. Five
officers on bikes patrolled the parking lot of the East Little Creek
Road facility.
KEYWORDS: CLINIC SECURITY ABORTION CLINIC CLINIC SHOOTINGS AFTERMATH
by CNB