By Ruth Moon
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 06, 2011
VIRGINIA BEACH
Three teenagers from Washington, D.C., looked sheepish as Officer William Matos chided them for roaming Virginia Beach after the 11 p.m. curfew Saturday night over Memorial Day weekend.
Matos called one teen’s dad, who showed up shortly for the 13- and 14-year-olds, furious that his son hadn’t gone straight back to the hotel after leaving for ice cream an hour earlier.
“You always find the juveniles out,” Matos said. “I don’t see them causing problems most of the time, but unfortunately they do get in trouble down here.”
Teens have been getting more attention at the Oceanfront since large gatherings of youths between 17th and 21st streets disrupted the Boardwalk with a handful of fights two nights in late April.
Police made a few arrests, spokesman Adam Bernstein said, and responded by stepping up curfew enforcement the following weekends and sending curfew reminders to schools and media outlets.
The April 20 incident caused the 17th Street Dairy Queen to close, the only time it’s ever closed early, said owner Richard Maddox, a former city councilman. Spring break is always a problem if it coincides with warm weather, Maddox said, because out-of-school teens flock to summertime businesses like Dairy Queen.
“It is a real challenge for us to staff our properties because we don’t have a summertime staff in place yet,” Maddox said of the April rush. “The police are dealing with the same issues.”
In a curfew crackdown May 6 and 7, police cited 19 teenagers along the Oceanfront. Since then, officers have cited fewer than 10 each weekend, Bernstein said.
An officer who stops a curfew violator can give a warning or issue a citation. Cited teens typically are taken to the 2nd Precinct office to wait for a parent and must appear in court with a parent or guardian. The outcome is often community service, according to police.
From mid-June to Labor Day, the Police Department uses increased patrols, bikes and mounted officers in its effort to avoid disruptions at the Oceanfront.
Officers on bikes can reach trouble amid the crowds faster than their counterparts on foot or in cars. In one Oceanfront scuffle over Memorial Day weekend, more than a dozen bike patrol officers arrived at the scene within minutes.
“The city spends $9 million a year marketing Virginia Beach as a resort destination,” Maddox said. “The last thing you want to do when you’re spending that kind of money and have a visitor coming here is give them a negative experience.”
Ruth Moon, (757) 222-5130, ruth.moon@pilotonline.com