It's not always Andy's Mayberry / Quiet town changes quickly when traffic and visitors descend
March 24, 2006 (Gordon Hickey, Richmond Times Dispatch)
Ashland is a small town with a major crossroads that can morph into gridlock when there's so much as a fender bender on nearby Interstate 95.
It's also a stopover for thousands of people visiting nearby attractions and even serves as a kind of bed-and-breakfast for race- goers.
It's a small town with a relatively large police force, but considering its important position in the center of central Virginia, a police force of 23 doesn't seem extravagant.
Consider, too, that the "Corporation of Ashland" covers slightly more than 7 square miles. Richmond, about 15 minutes away, covers 64 square miles and has about 700 officers. That's almost 11 police officers for every square mile of Richmond, and less than three for Ashland.
So now who has a large police force?
Ashland Police Chief Frederic Pleasants Jr. knows the size of his department exceeds the national standards, based on the official population of 6,619, not counting about 1,100 Randolph-Macon College students.
But it's not like the police don't have enough to do.
No one would deny that Ashland is safe. The town has had two homicides in the six years Pleasants has been chief.
Last year, 319 crimes were reported. Pleasants estimated that 240 to 250 are theft, and a lot of them are shoplifting.
Seven aggravated assaults were reported last year, all by people who knew the people they assaulted, none of them involving guns, and all of them solved. Police investigated five or six rapes, all committed by people who knew the people they attacked, and all were solved.
Pleasants, 54, came to Ashland after a full career as a Richmond police officer. As of last month, he had served 35 years as an officer.
His town is surrounded by Hanover County, which has its own sheriff's department that does some work inside town limits. State police patrol the adjacent I-95.
The Ashland Town Council has allowed Pleasants to add an officer each of the past two years. Ashland officers often don't stay long, because larger police forces are calling.
"We have to deal with issues of retention and recruitment," Pleasants said. "If we lose two officers, it throws us into a real dilemma."
The major issue for police? Transients.
The town has about 1,500 motel rooms. "One reason is [Paramount's] Kings Dominion. We're a drop-off point, people just traveling through."
Also, Ashland's motels sell out for the two weekends with NASCAR races in Henrico County.
And then there is the traffic. "An accident on 95 will throw thousands of vehicles on Route 1. The town is gridlocked," Pleasants said.
But mostly, despite the traffic and the transients, it's a small town with a good size police force that keeps busy but isn't overwhelmed.
"It's a nice place to live," Pleasants said.
-- Contact staff writer Gordon Hickey at ghickey@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6449.
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO
MEMO: SPECIAL SECTION: EXPLORING ASHLAND
Credit: Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. Abstract (Document Summary) Consider, too, that the "Corporation of Ashland" covers slightly more than 7 square miles. Richmond, about 15 minutes away, covers 64 square miles and has about 700 officers. That's almost 11 police officers for every square mile of Richmond, and less than three for Ashland.
[Frederic Pleasants Jr.], 54, came to Ashland after a full career as a Richmond police officer. As of last month, he had served 35 years as an officer.
The Ashland Town Council has allowed Pleasants to add an officer each of the past two years. Ashland officers often don't stay long, because larger police forces are calling.