Ventnor Police Chief, Doug Biagi provided a crime and public safety update at the recent department head meeting of March 12.
- Over 17,000 police calls in 2019
- 28.6% increase in overall crime rate. Most due to dramatic rise in car burglaries.
- Violent crime was down in 2019.
Biagi: Public not heeding basic warnings. Vehicle doors not being locked. Valuables not hidden in car.
Ventnor Police Chief Biagi Provided Crime and Public Safety Update.
Chief Biagi very happy with results of newly installed, flashing speed warnings. It’s working.
95% compliance with vehicles travelling on Winchester and Monmouth Aves. Speeding complaints are way down.
Seven radar signs have been purchased & installed so far.
Margate will join neighboring Longport in having a so-called ‘road diet’ on Atlantic Ave. Atlantic City may soon follow suit.
Road diets can reduce traffic crashes by an average of 29 percent, and that in some smaller towns the design approach can cut crashes nearly in half.
Chief Biagi warns that Atlantic Ave in Ventnor could turn into a speedway again if we don’t consider road diets as well. Biagi recommends new traffic signals on Atlantic ave. Hoping for grant funding.
Four lanes of traffic on Atlantic Ave. heightens safety concerns. Always tough to enforce traffic laws along this stretch. Especially treacherous for families crossing 4 lanes on way to the beach.
Road diet policies require little more than the paint needed to re-stripe lanes.
Video and Digital Security Making Ventnor a Safer City.
‘Ring’ video door bells & security cameras are also helping to combat local crime.
Ventnor Police officer body-cams and dash-cams working well. Comes in really handy sometimes.
Watch VCPD body-cam footage of off-duty ACPD Sergeant being charged with DUI, Driving While Intoxicated, on February 9, 2020.
Michael Camp, 44 of Atlantic City was arrested by Ventnor Police Sergeant Bryan Gaviria. Camp rear-ended a car stopped at a Jackson Ave. traffic light. WATCH VIDEO from BreakingAC.com >
Ventnor PD Body Cam Footage of DUI Arrest
Watch for Ventnor City Hall to be better secured with new doors and entrance systems. Digital lockdown.
In the cue: video surveillance of Ventnor Fishing Pier, tennis, basketball & recreational areas.
About Police Chief, Doug Biagi: During his career, Biagi’s path was primarily focused on Community Policing and bridging the gap between law enforcement and the citizens of Ventnor. Biagi is an anachronism of sorts, utilizing the old style beat cop persona. Biagi knows most residents in Ventnor, from its merchants to its children, and interacts with them regularly because of his strong roots with the community. Biagi has lived his entire life in Ventnor, raised his family in Ventnor and remains active in the community by volunteering with many committees.
Please, a “road diet” on Atlantic Avenue would cause a nightmare. With the heavy traffic during the summer, it’s bad enough. Cut it down to one lane each way, and you’re stuck behind a constructin vehicle or an altacocker driving 10 miles an hour!
Locking down City Hall digitally? Does that mean after hours there’s no way to access the police phone? Retrieving and returning the Community Room keys is already a very frustrating task when there is no one in the building to bring them out, or to take them back. That certainly needs a different system.