The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Police Chief Jake Jacocks stunned his staff and city officials on Monday by announcing that he would retire on June 1.
Jacocks, 57, has been Virginia Beach's police chief for 10 years and has spent his entire career with the city, starting at age 19. His salary is $141,234 to head a department with a sworn staff of 816 and a civilian staff of 167.
"I am personally sorry to see Jake leave Virginia Beach, but I know the city is safer today because of his tenure here," City Manager Jim Spore said in a news release issued by the city late Monday. "He was a true professional and a first-rate chief."
Jacocks said he plans to take a few months off, ride around on his Harley, and then do some part-time, private consulting work.
"I think it's time to relax and enjoy life and stop working 50- and 60-hour weeks," Jacocks said. "I'd much rather go out when things are good than when things are bad."
Jacocks cited the city's relatively low crime rate, the department's recent re-accreditation and its helicopter program as accomplishments that make him comfortable in retiring.
"Was I surprised? Yes," said Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms. "But do I understand? Yes.... He's got 38 years in."
Jacocks will be remembered for beefing up neighborhood policing and making the city more proactive in combating crime, Councilman Jim Wood said.
The city is ranked among the safest for its size in the country, with 32.8 crimes per 1,000 residents and 2.1 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, according to the Police Department's statistics.
"He has pushed for safer neighborhoods and safer schools, and I hope his replacement is willing to keep up the same push," said Sam Reid, president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations.
One area that needs improvement, however, is the city's response to gang-related crime, Reid said.
Jacocks has met with residents to discuss the gang problem, but the Police Department should have a "more meaningful gang unit to investigate crime," Reid said.
During his tenure, Jacocks has drawn controversy for his outspoken style and advocacy.
In the aftermath of a 2007 car wreck that killed two teenagers, Jacocks came under fire from TV personality Bill O'Reilly.
The driver blamed for the crash was an illegal immigrant; O'Reilly called Virginia Beach a "sanctuary city" and lambasted Jacocks' policies on illegal immigrants. Jacocks traded barbs with the television host, calling him a "pathetic individual."
Earlier this year, Jacocks urged Gov. Bob McDonnell to veto legislation that would allow concealed guns into bars, earning him the ire of gun activists.
And locally, several council members were peeved when Jacocks sent an e-mail last month to police staff suggesting how they should sell a proposed 3-cent tax increase to the community and why it was necessary. Most council members have denounced the proposed tax increase.
Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Chief Jacocks
I hope Virginia Beach knows what a good man they will be losing. Why don't they cut the mayor's salary or city council?
Disband The Police Department!
He did not respect people's rights so let him go and shed not a tear. He was/is not elected, but appointed. Police are at the beck and call of his masters (the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, or whom ever is in charge) Where as a Sherriff *IS* an elected official and reports to the people.
Why not disband the police and give the responsibility to the Sherriff?
Re Disband the Police Department
And turn it over to the Sheriff's Department? And you don't think THAT little blunder would add more than a little "political flavor" to the "the job"? You DO know that deputies serve at the pleasure of the Sheriff, and can be terminated at his (or her) whim, don't you? Think THAT little fact keeps folks in line with the Sheriff's likes and dislikes?
Oh yeah, that sounds like a BRILLIANT move....bravo, Pourshot - pour yourself another one (and one for me as well)....
Re My Last
OK, after some thought, I should've omitted that last line, and I offer my apologies - I gotta learn to stop hitting the "Post Comment" button before taking a deep breath and considering what it is I just finished typing.
As you can tell my last
As you can tell my last comment was cut short, but to summerize I will only be happy when a chief caters not to the elite and elected, but to ALL communities and all officers. Myself, officers, and the public deserve that. As for the smiling faces you see at your civic leauge, just as I stated in the previous post that was cut off, we continue to do the job, see things you will never know and the chief has long since forgotten, with a smile. We are professionals, and of course will act as so, but if you want the police force you, as a citizen deserve, take notice of these concerns, not complaints, and request that high-level elected and appointed civil servants are not making over 3x what a deticated policemen, firefighters, and teachers (all of whom have not seen a raise in years) are making. If I offended you, as your sarcasim implies, that was not my intention. Good bye.
Re As You Can Tell My Last
All I can tell you, "The Truth From..." is, just be careful what you wish for. I joined a local department in what now seems like WAY BACK in 1970, and, during the course of my more than three decades of service, it seemed - with one or two notable exceptions - that we found ourselves saying (of our leader), "Man, the next guy's GOTTA be an improvement over THIS one....". Well, as you may have already guessed, that just wasn't the case. Each successive chief became considerably worse than his predecessor, the current head of that department being a glaring example of same.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chief Jacocks only once, but found him to be pretty down-to-earth, and a class act. As my son currently serves as a sworn member of the VBPD, I pay particular attention to published news reports regarding the Beach PD. While I may disagree with his stance taken on the recent gun-carry issue, I must say - and granted, you have a much better perspective than I - that I'm more than a bit jealous that he was YOUR Chief, and not mine.
I just hope for your sake - and that of your brother and sister officers - that you don't find yourself looking back wistfully a couple of years from
Continued
now, wishing for a return to the good old days of Chief Jacocks' tenure.
Retort from "the truth from"
Ahh! so you are a member of the department...what a surprise. You must not be one of "virtually all the good officrs" since the FBI hasn't snapped you up. Since you're so unhappy, and can't get hired by the FBI, maybe you'd be happier working in Richmond, Petersburg or some other garden spot where I'm sure the Chief walks in every neighborhood...right! Oh, and all the officrs that I talk to at our civic league meetings rave about the great equipment they have, and the training...guess that's all reserved for "virtually all the good officers".
Anyway, the guy is leaving at the top of his game, so since you're so dissatisfied, you should be happy, not complaining.
There goes a saying, the
There goes a saying, the truth hurts. Maybe hes been accessible to your civic leauge, in your upper class neighborhood, and has been responsive to your needs, but ask the people in Northridge the last time they saw the him at one of their meetings. Go ahead, and ask him, really. He is a administrator, not a leader. Those are not my words, but the echoes of many of my street-level collegues. You can base your opinion on his career by positions he held over 20 years ago, or you see the fact the city has changed dramatically during that time span and he has watched the transition from the comfort of his overpriced leather swivel chair.
You can attack me as you state, "a small man who must of been fired or disciplned", when in fact I represent the cadre street level officers who must work 2 part time jobs to barely make ends meet, who improvise with poor equipment and a lackluster computer system, and who, most notably, are apart of a organization that since his tenure, has evolved more into a political, bureaucratic organization littered with red-tape and who bred administrators, not leaders. Despite all this, we serve in the face of situations you will never see and the Chief has lo
Comments by "the truth from"
It's painfully obvious that you are a small man who Jacocks must have disciplined or fired. Out of touch?? It obvious to anyone who really knows the truth that he cares about his officers and treats them like family, and he never takes credit for what the department does but gives that to the folks who are working our streets and to those of us in the communty who help them. And he has alwsys been accessible to those of us in civic leagues and neighborhoods. And yes, the department has lost a number of folks to the FBI, etc, but it ridiculous to think that "virtually all the good officers from this Dept. seek to go "...we are very fortunate to have such wonderful officers staying right here protecting us.
And 38 years in his office?!?!? Are we talking about the same guy?? Jacocks worked the streets, was a homicide detective, a SWAT team leader, attends community forums, civic league meeitngs and walks Atlantic Avenue in the summer.
He'll agree with you that the gratitude goes to the cop working the street at 4am - because he's been there.
You need to change your blog name, 'cause we ain't getting the truth from you.