Since the moment that College Beach Weekend 2017 ended, city officials have been planning for the 2018 event scheduled for April 27.
“We see what we did right and what didn’t work out,” said Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cervera.
In just a couple weeks, the city expects more than 40,000 college students to flock to the Oceanfront.
In the past, we’ve seen fights, stabbings and shootings.
City officials are working to change the image.
“We want everybody to enjoy themselves, but once someone becomes violent or disorderly, any police agency is going to step in,” Cervera added.
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Police say this year they’ve had more input from city departments. They’ve reached out to the colleges, Oceanfront businesses and residents for help.
“It’s a continuance of learning,” Cervera said. “We plan all year long.”
This year the city is doing things differently, including when officers are going to work.
“This particular year coming we are going to bring in officers on a stagger shift basis, so that officers are coming in early afternoon, because last year we had a large crowd influx in early afternoon,” Cervera added.
Police also continue to scrub though social media to make sure they’re keeping track of where beach weekend events could pop up.
“We scour that constantly, and if someone would send us a tidbit of information, the same thing with your industry and you begin to investigate on that,” Cervera said.
The chief says over the past years they’ve seen a shift in the arrests. More locals are getting arrested than visitors.
Police are also looking for members of the public who can interact with the crowd and maybe help keep any issues from happening.
The public can sign up and get information about this year’s College Beach Weekend during two informational sessions.
Both are taking place at the Virginia Beach Convention Center:
First session: April 12, 5:30 p.m.
Second session: April 18, 6 p.m.