My wife and I were planning a trip to Virginia Beach with our niece and her 1-year-old, but with the city considering closing down the Oceanfront at 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays because of a recent spate of violence, highlighted by a mass shooting in which eight people were shot on Atlantic Avenue last Saturday night, I dunno, maybe next year.
“This is tough love. This is doing what we have to do to save lives,” said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer, telling a local TV station that the city has considered shutting down the Oceanfront entirely, then added, almost nonsensically:
“In the long run, I think businesses will benefit from the fact that people know it’s a safe city.”
Uh, huh.
The proposed curfew would run between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday night into Saturday morning, and then from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday night into Sunday morning, each of the next two weekends.
Notably, the April 24-26 weekend has the Oceanfront set to host the Stars, Stripes and Spurs: Virginia Beach Military Appreciation Weekend event, with the entertainment scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
I’d reproduce the schedule here, but what would be the point to that?
This curfew idea, indeed, seems akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Last weekend’s shooting involved a group of 17- to 24-year-olds, with two people charged – a pair of 18-year-olds, one from Richmond, the other from Henrico County.
Investigators said the gun Jamya Williams, the teen from Henrico County, allegedly used was linked to two prior shootings in Richmond.
That one’s just bad luck, if you’re looking from the perspective of Virginia Beach, but the bigger problem is, city officials are saying the violence – which included a large fight among another group of teens at a trampoline park 11 miles away on Lynnhaven Parkway just minutes before the mass shooting on the Oceanfront – has exposed staffing shortages with the city PD.
Local media reports have it that the Virginia Beach PD is saying it has 86 active job openings in its ranks, meaning it’s operating at about 90 percent capacity.
Operate your city on the cheap – the mayor, Dyer, is a Republican, and Virginia Beach seems to pride itself on having the lowest property taxes in Hampton Roads – and you get what you pay for.
Virginia Beach has been our summer go-to for years, but I’m not going to book myself and the fam to get shot, or, alternatively, to sit locked up in the hotel room, instead of trolling the Boardwalk in search of an orange crush.
Maybe next year?
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Chris Graham
