THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505260505 SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
This weekend, as tourists and locals throng to the city's coast for the resort season's first major holiday, they will be met by a stricter police force that writes an average of 81 traffic tickets a day.
So far this spring - from April 15 to May 21 - police have issued 2,848 traffic tickets as part of a ``zero tolerance'' attitude toward lawbreakers. That's 60 percent more than during the same period last year.
More than 400 of those tickets were given to Atlantic Avenue motorists who broke the city's anti-cruising ordinance that kicked in in mid-April. The ordinance is in effect from mid-April to Labor Day. By comparison, police wrote only 269 cruising tickets in all of 1994.
Part of the reason for the crackdown is the Oceanfront's new commanding officer, a no-nonsense 35-year police veteran who sometimes refers to troublemakers as ``hooligans'' and ``rowdies.''
``I would be tickled to death if everybody who came down to the Oceanfront this weekend had a good time and felt secure during their visit, and we had to take no enforcement actions because everybody behaved themselves,'' said Capt. E.F. Buzzy Sr. ``That would be great. But we know that's not going to happen.''
The city's smallest police patrol zone - the heart of the resort strip - is also the busiest. Last year, police responded to more than 11,000 calls there. That's double the average in other zones.
This year, the number of officers at the Oceanfront has been increased 23 percent, although officials are reluctant to give exact numbers.
The increase in officers is coupled with a decrease in parking. Cars without permits will be ticketed or towed if left on residential streets after 8 p.m. A city-contracted team of parking enforcers will patrol the residential streets after sundown, freeing police to concentrate on the Oceanfront, Buzzy said.
The decreased parking also has led to a decrease in alcohol violations charged to the the park-and-party crowd, Buzzy said.
From April 15 through May 21 of 1994, police wrote 848 summonses for alcohol violations at the Oceanfront, most on the streets of neighborhoods west of hotel row. During that same time this year, the number plummeted to 362, Buzzy said.
This is the first full year the parking ban has been enacted. It is also the first year regular patrols of plain-clothes police officers will circulate in Oceanfront crowds. Other officers will staff several random road blocks at the Oceanfront, Buzzy said.
``That's one more approach to zero tolerance for law violators,'' Buzzy said.
The white-haired captain with the resonating voice sums up his philosophy as ``fair, firm, friendly.'' He repeats the phrase with such regularity it may as well be stenciled on the sides of patrol cars.
``The idea we came up with was to set the tone early and maintain that posture throughout the summer,'' Buzzy said. ``Then, when people come down here, they'll know what to expect.''
The authority crackdown has extended to Buzzy's officers as well. Buzzy banned the summery golf shirts and shorts some officers wore last year and ordered them back into regulation metro blue for a more professional appearance, he said.
Officers have also been assigned regular beats, and they are expected to introduce themselves to the business owners at the Oceanfront.
And officers will tolerate less trouble than they have in the past, Buzzy said.
``To our guests, we will show them we are a professional police department there to see that their stay is as good as possible,'' Buzzy said. ``And at the same time, we will send a message to the individuals who will create problems for us that they will be held accountable.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Color photo
STAFF
NO CRUISING ALLOWED
SOURCE: Virginia Beach Police Department
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB