Virginia Beach Police Department 2009 Annual Report - City of ...

Departmental Highlights
Virginia Beach Police Department - 2009 Annual Report
In 2009, the Second Precinct worked with partners in the
Resort Advisory Committee (RAC) to develop ordinance
and enforcement strategies to address issues at the 15th
Street Pier and along property owned by Norfolk Southern
Railways. In an effort to address these issues, plainclothes
operations were set up to observe and report on criminal
behaviors in public parks, and the Oceanfront Community
Oriented Policing (OCOP) worked with the Commonwealth’s
Attorney to develop enforcement strategies that better
employ the laws regarding the interdiction of habitual
drunkards.
The Third Precinct continues to work closely with the city’s
residents to address concerns and improve service and
communication.
This past year the Fourth Precinct also continued the
“Safe Park” initiative. This initiative requires that officers
regularly patrol the more than 40 City parks in the
Fourth Precinct in an effort to observe and apprehend
subjects trespassing and committing criminal acts. This
initiative has resulted in arrests for trespassing, curfew
violation, drug and alcohol charges, and destruction
of City property. We have also partnered with Parks &
Recreation to ensure that all City parks are properly posted.
The four middle schools located in the Fourth Precinct
have initiated the Truancy Awareness and Education
Program (TAEP). The program identifies chronic truants
each 9-week grading period. Once chronic truants have
been identified, the School Resource Officer (SRO)
and guidance counselor meet with the students and
their parents to evaluate why the student has been
classified as a chronic truant and to develop strategies
that will help to change the behavior of the student.
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One of the Third Precinct’s top objectives for 2009 was to
address concerns brought forth as a result of interactions
with a local civic league. In a joint effort with the
Chesapeake Beach Civic League, the officers of the Third
Precinct worked to identify the neighborhood’s concerns
and an effective approach to address these concerns. The
Chesapeake Beach Civic League reported problems that
ranged from parking complaints, fireworks, and drunk
and disorderly persons on and off the beach. In response
to these concerns, the Third Precinct joined the Virginia
Beach Fire Department in a collaborated effort over the
July 4 th weekend to curtail the use of unpermitted/unsafe
fireworks in the neighborhood. These efforts have had a
positive impact on the Chesapeake Beach neighborhood
as undesirable behaviors reduced in frequency, thus
allowing a more family-friendly atmosphere to reemerge.
In 2009, the Fourth Precinct implemented the Gang and
Delinquency Awareness Program. The program was
developed as part of a collaborative effort between Crime
Prevention, Special Investigations, local school counselors,
and Fourth Precinct officers, with the goal of educating
parents about gang activity and various methods to
identify gang involvement. Three programs were held
at local elementary schools and parents of elementary
aged children were encouraged to attend. The Fourth
Precinct received a $1,500 grant from the Hampton Roads
Rotary Club to offset the cost of food, drinks, and door
prizes. Well over 100 parents attended the programs.
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In September 2009, the Marine Patrol Unit, a division of
Special Operations, accepted two fully equipped 35 foot
aluminum hull patrol boats custom manufactured by Metal
Shark Boats in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. These patrol
vessels were purchased with the assistance of the United
States Department of Homeland Security’s 2007 Port Security
Grant Program as part of the 2007 Infrastructure Protection
Program. The program was intended to enhance the ability
to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from attacks
on port systems. This grant allowed for the replacement
of Marine Patrol fleet vessels that were outdated and
ill-equipped to handle a year-round all weather law
enforcement platform. The new vessels will allow the Marine
Patrol Unit to more effectively patrol security zones within
the port of Hampton Roads, improve dive team training,
assist other agencies, and produce an extremely high level
of responsiveness to residents and visitors of Virginia Beach.
The Virginia Beach Police Department’s Bomb Squad is
accredited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
and is recognized by the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) as a Level One capable asset. In 2009,
utilizing federal grant money, the Virginia Beach
Police Department’s Bomb Squad acquired two
state of the art hazardous duty robots: The Remotec
ANDROS Mark V-A1 and the Remotec ANDROS HD-IJ.
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