Recent analysis of current criminal trends show an increase in crime related to gang activity. We, as a community, must take a proactive stance on this issue. In light of this, the City of Virginia Beach and the Virginia Beach City Public Schools are inviting citizens to attend the first of several free public forums on gangs and gang activity on Wednesday, March 7, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Virginia Beach Convention Center located at 1000 19th Street.

This forum is designed to create public awareness about gangs and the impact they have on our community; encourage community dialogue; share gang prevention strategies that city and school agencies have in place; and highlight how citizens can support these efforts.

The evening’s format begins with an informational presentation coordinated by Special Investigations members of the Police Department followed by a question and answer period. As a warning to parents, the presentation will include graphic material that may not be appropriate for young children. During the question and answer period, citizens will have the opportunity to submit questions and have them addressed by panel members.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Cliff Rice, former Chief of Police for Old Dominion University and a former Lieutenant for New York City Police Department. Serving on this panel will be Commonwealth’s Attorney Harvey Bryant; Virginia Beach Police Chief A. M. “Jake” Jacocks, Jr.; Virginia Beach City Public Schools Superintendent James G. Merrill; Olymphia Rainey, Juvenile Court Services Unit; Nony Abrajano, National Federation of Filipino American Associations; and Jim Davis, Barry Robinson, Inc.

For further information on this meeting please call (757) 385-3111 or logon to vbgov.com and look under “Hot Topics.”

The event is sponsored by the Virginia Beach Gang Strategy Task Force, which includes members from the Office of Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Virginia Beach Court Services Unit, the Virginia Beach Departments of Police, Human Services, Parks & Recreation, and Housing and Neighborhood Preservation, the City Manager’s Office, and the Virginia Beach City Public Schools.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Virginia Beach. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.