Virginia Beach task force urges more police tools, keeping the youth curfew and tougher bar enforcement after Oceanfront shootings

Months after shootings at the Oceanfront, a Virginia Beach task force told City Council on Tuesday that the city should give police more tools and better pay, keep its youth curfew and crack down on bars that overserve, among 27 recommendations meant to make the resort area and the city safer.

Mayor Bobby Dyer launched the Mayor's Task Force for a Safer Virginia Beach in May after two separate Oceanfront shootings left multiple people injured, WAVY reported. 13News Now noted that one shooting injured seven people.

Backing the officers on the street

Among the public safety items: competitive starting salaries for police officers, drones and other resources for police, mental health training for officers, and the use of special conservators of the peace to handle transports and custodial duties.

"If we can give tools to our police officers, including the drones, the pop-ups, including mental health help for our police officers who aren't trained in that, we need to do that right away," task force member Debbie Lou Hague said, according to WAVY.

The group also recommended keeping the curfew for unaccompanied minors under 18 from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., more consistent enforcement of alcohol overservice laws at bars and nightclubs, securing vacant buildings and adding lighting across the resort area.

Gun proposals will draw a closer look

Not every item is likely to sit well with gun owners. WAVY reported that the task force wants legislation to establish a no-gun zone, without detailing where it would apply, and 13News Now reported proposals to promote gun-storage safety and highlight state tax incentives for secure firearm storage.

Other recommendations lean on jobs and programs: youth apprenticeships and employment, a violence-interruption pilot, mental health resources, a micro-transit plan, a pedestrian mall on parts of Atlantic Avenue and rideshare zones.

Council has the next move

"Many of the recommendations that we came up with were quick hitters, and low cost," task force member Conrad Agresti said. Dyer promised the work would not be a report that "sits on the shelf and gathers dust," but said, "If there were easy answers, it would have been done decades ago."

Council has not adopted any of the recommendations. Members said they want to act before the next spring tourist season, WAVY reported.

Task force member Melissa Lukeson put the stakes plainly: "An area of concern for me is making sure that we didn't do all this work and then nothing gets implemented."

On the same day as the presentation, police were investigating a reported stabbing near 17th Street at the Oceanfront, 13News Now reported.

Featured photo: The Virginia Beach boardwalk, by Bruce Emmerling, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Email the Virginia Beach Council:
Robert Dyer, mayorsoffice@vbgov.com,
Michael Berlucchi, mberlucc@vbgov.com,
Stacy Cummings, stcummings@vbgov.com,
Barbara Henley, bhenley@vbgov.com,
David Hutcheson, dhutcheson@vbgov.com,
Cal Jackson-Green, cjacksongreen@vbgov.com,
Robert Remick, wremick@vbgov.com,
Amelia Ross-Hammond, arosshammond@vbgov.com,
Jennifer Rouse, jvrouse@vbgov.com,
Joashua Schulman, jschulman@vbgov.com,
Rosemary Wilson, rcwilson@vbgov.com,

Virginia Beach is an independent city in Hampton Roads.