Chief: Substation reducing crime at Oceanfront

Neudigate: Building pays dividends despite going mostly unused

VIRGINIA BEACH — Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate defended the city’s decision to lease Oceanfront property for a police substation that is expected to cost the city more than double what was originally expected — and won’t be fully open for months.

Neudigate told the City Council on Tuesday that the substation, in a stretch along Atlantic Avenue known as “The Block,” already has reduced crime in the resort area, though it has been mostly unused since the city began leasing it in June.

He also reported that, though the space is awaiting renovation, it will be open to police officers on a limited basis on weekends.

“When we had an opportunity last year to gain a foothold in The Block, I came to this council and you were very gracious to lease that property, and since we’ve done that I think we’ve seen

some great results,” Neudigate said.

The chief said calls for service in The Block, comprised of the 2100 block of Atlantic Avenue and its side streets, have dropped 21% since the city bought the property, as compared with the previous year.

He also noted there hasn’t been a homicide at the Oceanfront in more than a year, and it’s been 311 days since a person has been shot there — thanks to the presence of the substation, the chief said.

“The acquisition alone has already paid dividends,” Neudigate said. “It allows me to deploy our limited resources, which is my personnel, to be more proactive.”

For years, The Block has been a thorn in the police department’s side due to the number of calls for service.

The city leased the space — it had been operating as a bar — soon after 10 people were shot in three separate incidents on the same night in that vicinity.

The police department intended to use it as a home base for officers assigned to the Oceanfront during the busy summer months. Half a million dollars was approved for the project, and some of that money was used to buy out a former lease and for $5,000 monthly rent payments.

But the substation, which was supposed to be open for this summer’s busy season, quickly met with delays. Council members recently learned that the city needs an additional $600,000 to renovate it.

“There are some substantial things that need to be fixed,” Neudigate told the council. “It’s more than a coat of paint; it’s more than just an amateur handyman.”

There are cracks in ceiling beams, but city staff has given the police department the green light to use the building for “brief periods of time, 30 to 60 minutes at a time, for our officers to go in and recharge,” the chief said.

Councilman Linwood Branch, who toured the substation last week, said its presence is having a positive ripple effect on The Block’s business owners, some of whom are renovating their units.

“I think we’ve more than gotten our bang for the buck,” Branch said.