The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Surveillance cameras designed to deter crime will be installed in the Waterside parking garage this summer, City Manager Regina V.K. Williams told the City Council on Tuesday night.
Although the announcement came days after a fatal shooting inside the garage, Williams said the cameras have been in the works for six months.
Her announcement came in response to a call from Councilman W. Randy Wright to install cameras there.
She said a request will be issued soon seeking contractors to install cameras and the cameras should be installed shortly after a contract is accepted.
The downtown waterfront facility, built in part with city funds, has become a gathering spot for young people to eat, socialize and drink. After midnight, many of the restaurants there essentially become bars, some council members have said.
A 26-year-old Chesapeake man was shot and killed and another man wounded early Sunday morning after a fender-bender in the garage turned into a confrontation. A Virginia Beach man was arrested as he was leaving the garage, which is attached to Waterside.
Similar cameras are being installed in high-crime areas in East Ocean View, Denby Park and Huntersville.
Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot reacted on Monday to the shooting by calling on the City Council to either close Waterside or fix security issues there. He said he has heard of a number of fights occurring outside the facility.
He backed off of his call to close Waterside, saying restaurants such as the Outback Steakhouse deserve to stay in business. He also said he was not aware of steps taken by the city administration to tighten security there.
“In the midst of an economic downturn, I don’t want families out looking for new jobs,” he said. “We need to look at how we can change the perception so that people continue to venture to Waterside.”
Speaking about a Virginian-Pilot story that indicated police in the past year have taken 332 calls for service from Waterside and the attached garage, Burfoot added: “I’m sure if any other establishment received that many calls for service, we would step in. We can’t have a perception ... we’re not safe.”
Kevin Murphy, head of the Downtown Civic League, agreed, saying that “downtown is becoming increasingly unsafe.”
He asked for a more aggressive police presence. Mayor Paul Fraim said the police presence has already been increased.
Wright called the Waterside garage shooting “a wakeup call” and said there are crime issues around the venue that must be addressed.
“The first step should be the installation of cameras,” he said. “I’m glad to hear we’re doing that.”
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
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Good thing they are
Good thing they are installing cameras. I am one of their clients there and would love to know that my car is safe in their garage.
godson85
Ever hear of the phrase “Snitches get Stitches?” I do everyday at school and most of my students live in those neighborhoods that young black men are dying daily. Funny I grew up in the projects in Pittsburgh Pa (Garfield Heights) and I never heard that phrase. Most of the people in my old neighborhood were more than willing to turn in a criminal. However, the prevailing thought today is (at least in the school I teach in) street silence. And a byproduct of this attitude is what you’ve pointed out, a callus indifference by outside entities (to include the city counsel) to the high murder rate in the black neighborhoods.
The City Manager said what?
Per Norfolk's Queen Regina Williams now cameras at the Waterside Garage have been in the works for 6 months? Really? Either that is not true or nobody on the Norfolk City Council including the Vice Mayor knew anything about it. If they did they would have said so don't you think? So is Norfolk's Queen just being untruthful now or does she just refuse to communicate with the Norfolk Ciy Council? Just once I would like to hear and see, not read, what Norfolk's Queen has to say herself. Am I the only one who wonders why in the last 10 years we have seldom seen or heard Norfolk's Queen talk? Does anyone wonder why we only get to read what she supposedly says in the newspaper? What is Norfolk's Queen afraid of? Is it possble that Norfolk's Queen is just arrogant?
Isolated Outrage
Some of you got your silver spoons so far up your mouth its sad. My condolences goes out to the young men who have been killed in these SENSELESS murders, but lets count how many people who have been murdered the "black communities". They don't get this kind of outrage by you people because it doesn't affect you, but as soon as it hit homes; its all of a sudden an "outrage". Be for real!!!! It's more drunk white people in downtown Norfolk than anything and the police let them roam freely, but as soon as a black person stumbles, he or she is in cuff. I've witnessed it with my own eyes numerous of times. These double standards are killing me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
City is the landlord
Norfolk owns Waterside. As the landlord they can control what businesses operate there. I'd suggest they utilize that control.
Faces of Death
This is just a warm and fuzzy and new footage for the next Faces of Death movie.
You got to love it!
Burfoot doesn't want a bad perception? The reality is far worse than the perception folks! They have had a plan to install cameras for six months? How long does it take to buy them and put them in. My Grandmother could do a better job! At least they will have recordings of who shoots who ---isn't that comforting?. The cameras won't stop anything you idiots! This is like closing the barn after the horse gets out! Way to go Norfolk City Council more rhetoric as usual --- we didn't expect anything different!
Require Waterside bars to hire security for the parking garage.
Or, show them the door.
"Virginia is one of only 8 states that still refuses to hold bars and restaurants accountable for over-serving their patrons. Sure, the bar can profit from the 10 beers that the man drinks while watching a football game, but when that game is over and he gets in a car to drive home, Virginia courts and the Virginia General Assembly say that the bar is not responsible to anyone on the road.
43 other states have enacted laws known as “dram shop” laws. These laws are designed to provide incentive for bars, restaurants, waiters, and bartenders to act responsibly in serving their guests. If the bar or bartender serves a drink to someone who is already over the legal limit and that person gets behind the wheel of a car and injures someone, the bar can be held accountable."
http://www.weislaw.com/library/no-civil-liability-for-hosts-or-bars-in-virginia.cfm
A solution that may help.
Here is an idea that may save Waterside's reputation as a ghetto - have ALL Waterside establishments stop serving any and all alcohol at Midnight. If that doesn't work, then set the time back to 10:00PM. Along with the cameras, and security patrols from police and Downtown Council Ambassadors, it could make Waterside not the headache it is now. All this solution is a a vote by City Council, a stroke of the pen, and enforcement of the statute/ordinance. Set the initial dry time to start at midnight. First violation by a Waterside business of the ordinance set back to 10:00PM. On a 2+ violations, revoke that establishment's liquor license for 90 days. It's gotta be simple and tough to get the message across to help clean up downtown. This is a very simple proposal to one of the issues over Waterside's blight.
If you live downtown next to
If you live downtown next to a busy street, there WILL BE NOISE AT NIGHT! And if everyone was packing, then there would just be more shootings. More importantly, the article failed to say what kind of cars they were driving? Were they even worth getting bent over a scratch?