THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030557
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
The Military Highway shopping area is not the crime-ridden danger zone that people seem to think it is, officials said Thursday.
In fact, police said, figures show that crime in that part of the city has dropped 19 percent since the last quarter of 1995.
The numbers were displayed at a forum attended by representatives of businesses in the area, civic league members, police and city-government officials.
``We need to start changing this stale 6-year-old perception of Military Highway,'' said Rick Polley, general manager of Military Circle shopping center. ``That's the reality.''
The forum was set up by the city to address public safety in the area. Other speakers included Mayor Paul Fraim, Police Chief Melvin C. High and Officer John Richardson, a crime prevention specialist.
Negative perceptions, the speakers said, have been fueled by high-profile crimes, such as two murders on the same weekend in February.
Ann Jungja Lim, 52, a Suffolk Realtor, was killed outside Janaf Shopping Center on Feb. 23. The next day, Paul A. Bernard, 37, of Chesapeake, was shot to death in an apparent carjacking in the parking lot of the former K mart on North Military Highway.
Police linked Sammy Gary, a 20-year-old Portsmouth man, to both killings. He was later killed in a standoff with police.
Polley said no one can predict random acts of violence, but numbers show that crime is not as big a problem near North Military Highway and Virginia Beach Boulevard as some people think.
The most frequently reported crime in the six months preceding April was larceny, the statistics show. There were 115 reported cases in last year's fourth quarter and 83 cases the first quarter of this year. Reports of shoplifting, purse snatching, pocket picking and commercial burglaries all went down.
There were slight increases in auto thefts, vandalism and larceny from automobiles.
Violent crimes - robbery, assault and murder - accounted for only a small fraction of the area's total. There was one assault in last quarter of 1995, compared with none this year; six robberies compared with eight; and the two homicides.
To allay fears and to control crime, High said, police will increase their presence in the shopping areas, starting with more bicycle patrols.
``We believe (the Military Highway area) is as safe as any shopping area in Hampton Roads,'' High said.
Merchants and residents also were told what to expect during the 3 1/2-year, $39 million Military Highway renovation. The project will mean more lanes, better signs and smoother exchanges from Virginia Beach Boulevard to Military Highway, Fraim said. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
JOHN EARLE/The Virginian-Pilot
TACKLING CRIME ON MILITARY HIGHWAY
SOURCE: Norfolk Police Department
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB