When it comes to policing Town Center
Bicycle rickshaws carted families around Town Center on Saturday night. Couples held hands and snapped photos with cell phones as they relaxed by the fountain under the glow of street lamps. Late-night diners carried to-go bags from The Cheesecake Factory.
Lindsay Duke, out for her husband’s birthday, said Town Center felt secure, echoing what many others had to say.
“I’ve never felt unsafe around here,” said Duke, of Virginia Beach.
One month after a shooting that left one dead and five injured at Town Center, people who work and visit here said crime wasn’t a major concern.
Further, police data shows that most of the crimes reported at Town Center over the last five and a half years were misdemeanors. “Is it a safe environment? We think it’s extremely safe,” said Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera.
Town Center is bordered by several blocks of busy Virginia Beach and Independence boulevards. It includes several parking garages, the Westin hotel, and a mix of businesses, offices, restaurants, residential buildings and the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.
The most common crime is hit and run, with 214 reported since the start of 2008, an average of three a month. There has been one auto fatality in that time frame, in 2009.
Destruction of property and larceny, including from motor vehicles, buildings and shoplifting, are also among the more common crimes, although the numbers remain low. There have been 15 reported incidents of larceny from a motor vehicle and six incidents of shoplifting so far in 2013.
Town Center has seen seven simple assaults this year. Simple assaults include pushing, shoving and punching, Cervera said.
When it comes to policing Town Center, Cervera said his department looks at the amount of pedestrian foot traffic and what events are planned for the area. Officers are dedicated to Town Center at certain times of the day.
Cervera said he understands Town Center was an “economic gamble” for the city and that public safety is key to its success.
A third tower, dubbed Phase 5, is scheduled to be completed at Town Center next year and is being funded through a public-private partnership between developer Armada Hoffler and the city, which will pay $18 million for a parking garage.
Lou Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler, said the low rate of crime “speaks for itself” and that he believes the area to be among the safest in the region. He said Town Center is seeing more families out late at night. “It’s exactly what we had envisioned it to be,” Haddad said.
Nightlife will always be part of its offerings, he said. “We’ll continue to search for the right concepts that will complement what’s already here.”
At Saffron Indian Bistro,linux dedicated server manager Mike Patel said the business has never had an issue with safety, and a security guard checks in each day.
Lindsay Aulenbach, a server at Keagan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, said she notices security guards in the parking garages and doesn’t feel at risk, even when she leaves work at 3 a.m. Hostess Bailie Fout said she watches her surroundings when out late, no matter where she is.
“Especially being a young girl, you always have to be careful,” she said.
One week after the June shooting, Guadalajara closed, although police have not linked the restaurant and club to the shooting. Another Town Center establishment, Red Star Tavern, closed earlier this month after it fell behind on its taxes.
Despite the recent closures, Oceanfront resident Chris Carver said the atmosphere and nightlife at Town Center hadn’t changed much. Carver said Town Center has fewer tourist-based attractions and a laid-back ambiance that appeals to a slightly older crowd than the Oceanfront. Hanging out with friends Saturday night near the fountain, Carver said he prefers Town Center to Norfolk or the Oceanfront.
Read the full story at www.mileweb.com/services!