THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505200134
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Police have bagged more ``cruisers'' on Atlantic Avenue this month than the entire summer of 1994 under the department's new ``zero tolerance'' crackdown on the resort strip.
``Last summer we issued 269 summonses, and we've already exceeded that,'' said Capt. Ernest Buzzy, commander of the Second Police Precinct, citing 354 citations issued to motorists so far in May.
The cruising ban, now in its fourth year, is part of a stepped-up resort enforcement program encompassing alcohol-related traffic infractions, rowdyism and residential parking violations.
So far this month 248 residential parking tickets have been issued in neighborhoods adjacent to the resort, compared to 769 in May 1994. The dip coincides with a drastic reduction in complaints from these same areas, said Buzzy.
``What this indicates to me is that the residential parking program is working well, although I realize the (tourist) season is only a month old.''
On-street parking in most neighborhoods abutting the resort is restricted to residents and authorized visitors after 8 p.m. during summer months. Cars parked at curbside in these areas must bear city permits to avoid being ticketed.
Buzzy said even the 178 officers in his charge must tread a finer line. Shorts and casual wear worn in past years have been banned. Officers who aren't involved in plain clothes or undercover work, must wear regulation blue uniforms and hats.
The idea, said Buzzy, is to increase police visibility as well as the number of officers at the Oceanfront and to project an image of ``professionalism.''
Atlantic Avenue cruisers - motorists who drive up and down Atlantic Avenue to see and to be seen - consist mostly of military personnel and ``locals'' from Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Hampton, said Buzzy.
And they are a persistent lot, he told a group of resort innkeepers Thursday. ``Some of them - even after they get summonses - continue to cruise,'' he said. ``Each time they go back it's a separate violation.''
Asked if the city's judges were convicting motorists cited for cruising, Buzzy said it was too early to tell, because much of the paperwork had yet to reach the courts.
``If the judges don't react the way we want them to - that's really not our concern,'' he said. by CNB