Seventeen Virginia law enforcement agencies have garnered a total of 19 national awards for traffic safety, the most of any state in the country, and Virginia Beach Police Department led the way with a tie for first among departments with 701 or more officers.
The Virginia Beach department tied with the Tucson, Ariz., Police Department for best overall traffic safety program, based on the Law Enforcement Challenge, an in-depth review and analysis of traffic-related arrests, crashes and other data. Departments compete against others of similar size in the state and national contests.
Virginia Beach also won the state championship in its respective category.
“It shows Virginia does have very committed law enforcement executives and agencies, and they’re committed to this cause,” said Bob Wall, law enforcement liaison for the Virginia police chiefs group and a retired Fairfax County police officer. “When you have that many winners and that many entries,” he said, “they’re really doing their job to make our streets safer.”
Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton and Smithfield all finished in the top three in their respective categories in the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Law Enforcement Challenge. Among military law enforcement agencies in Virginia, police departments at Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek also finished in the top three.
In the national contest, Chesapeake, Virginia State Police, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek garnered top-three finishes in their respective categories.
The national awards are to be presented Nov. 11 at a conference in San Diego.
Shawn Day, (757) 222-5131, shawn.day@pilotonline.com
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dr87448
You're right, buddy. What you hear can always be construed as fact.
Secondly, what exactly does crime in base housing have to do with traffic safety?
No way.............!
The criteria must be pretty slack; who determines their performance, themselves??? I've never lived in any city where police cruisers drive with as little disregard for the public they purport to serve as in Va Beach. 10, 15, 20mph and more above the speed limit going no particular place (yeah, I've followed from time to time "to see where the fire was") is common - not one time has it been to an emergency...
Lights, sirens? No. Those aren't needed when the officers are just lead-footing around in Police Interceptor sedans that don't belong to them and that they are not purchasing the fuel for. I think for future safety "awards", they should study complaints against the department too, complaints for reckless driving and disregard for public safety.
Base Police???
Wonder what they did..last I heard crime was running rampant in base housing areas since the base police refuse to patrol there.
Top Police Department, but not top pay
Once again, the VB Police show they are an outstanding police department. Perhaps Meyera and the rest of the city council will start a serious, good faith effort to compensate their police so they may afford to live in the city they so effectively protect and serve. Unfortunately, I doubt the council will make any changes. I acknowledge the VBPD can improve their performance in some areas, but this award is just another example of one of the many things they do well.
leaders?
They also lead in racial profiling.