THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190251
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Police efforts short-change residents
According to the calendar, summer starts June 21. Most parents feel it starts at the end of the school year, and according to the tourist industry summer starts Memorial Day weekend. But check with the city and you'll find summer starts April 12 when over 100 police officers are transferred to the oceanfront for the ``summer.''
At that time, year-round residents will again become second-class citizens. The police precincts will be stripped to the bone and the traffic unit disbanded for the summer in order to succumb to the pressures of the Hotel-Motel Association, the Restaurant Association and other oceanfront groups. While an increase in tourism does lead to an increased need for police, the number of officers transferred severely under-mans the remainder of the city of almost five months out of the year! As citizens of Virginia Beach, don't we deserve the police services year-round that we pay for?
Who's going to work the traffic problems, accidents and answer the complaints of the year-round citizens?
Who's going to stop the speeders in the school zones when the children are trying to get to school safely? Obviously the Police Administration and city officials don't care about them.
Without any officers working accidents and radar the city is wide open to speeders and drunk drivers. That's OK, we'll just cut down more trees on Shore Drive to stop that. Don't worry if someone is breaking into your house or stealing your car; a police officer will get to you sometime in September.
I saw it last year every time I ventured down to the beachfront. There was Virginia Beach's finest, standing around in groups doing nothing but looking bored. Yet we couldn't get one to check around our neighborhood because they couldn't be spared from the oceanfront. Is it really necessary to transfer this many officers this early?
If you feel that this is unfair, I urge you as citizens of Virginia Beach, especially organized groups such as PTAs, civic leagues, etc., to contact City Council with your concerns. The goal of this city should be citywide safety not high profile over-coverage of a small area at the expense of the remainder of the city.
Jackie Okeson
Virginia Beach by CNB