VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach Police Department will now do things differently when it comes to analyzing violent crimes in the city, along with your access to that information.
Police Chief Paul Neudigate revealed the "WAVES" system on Wednesday, saying it will pull back the curtain and give the community upfront, on-demand access to see what’s going on in their Virginia Beach neighborhoods.
People can request crime statistics now, but this new system eliminates having to jump through hoops. Officials will analyze the data much more frequently, looking at it weekly instead of on a monthly basis.
The Weekly Analysis for (V)BPD Engagement and Strategies (WAVES) system will focus on violent and property crimes, so you can see trends for crimes like homicides, assaults, and thefts.
According to Chief Neudigate, the city had an increase in shootings in 2020. He said they are doing everything in their power to reduce that in 2021, but added the city’s report card isn’t bad.
"Virginia Beach is absolutely one of the safest cities in the nation for our size. The data shows it, we know it," he said. "Unfortunately, sometimes there’s a perception that things are going amiss. I think this helps address that perception because we know sometimes perception can override reality."
Officials say the system will go live either on Wednesday or Thursday morning.