Oceanfront death raises safety concerns

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The shooting death of 22-year-old Codaro Simpkins, a promising, young athlete, is raising some concerns about security at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, in the area between 19th and 17th Street.

"The police department is very aware of the special needs for that area and we have a lot of resources that we direct to that. Unfortunately, sometimes enough is never quite enough," said City Councilman John Uhrin.

Simpkins was gunned down on a city sidewalk just a few blocks from where tourist play in the sun.

Simpkin's death and recent violence along that one section of the city has some people nervous, but police told WAVY.com crime in that area is in fact better than it was before.

According to the city's crime statistics, there has been eight aggravated assaults in the resort area of Virginia Beach since May, three less than what was reported in the same time period in 2010. There were also twice as many robberies last year.

The murder of Simpkins is the first reported homicide in the area since 2009.

Despite the numbers, the area where Simpkins was shot with its boarded up buildings and abandoned storefronts doesn't look that much like a safe resort town.

"Any community that has vacant store fronts, that's never a positive thing and certainly is not the environment that you want to have in terms of deterring crime," added Uhrin.

Beach Police still do not have a suspect in Simpkin's murder and are asking anyone with any information to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.