VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The News 3 Investigative team obtained body camera video of recent arrests in the city of Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach makes about 5% of the total population in the state, but in 2019 they accounted for more than 9% of the DUI convictions statewide and 8% of DUI cases in 2020 and 2021.
| Jurisdiction | DUI Convictions | |||
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022* | |
| State of Virginia | 18,648 | 14,105 | 15,988 | 9,909 |
| Isle of Wight County | 117 | 109 | 157 | 41 |
| James City County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chesapeake City | 491 | 496 | 638 | 400 |
| Hampton City | 198 | 134 | 210 | 113 |
| Newport News City | 517 | 434 | 467 | 349 |
| Norfolk City | 372 | 208 | 276 | 163 |
| Portsmouth City | 143 | 89 | 105 | 67 |
| Suffolk City | 316 | 218 | 243 | 124 |
| Virginia Beach City | 1,758 | 1,194 | 1,279 | 832 |
| Williamsburg City | 248 | 188 | 235 | 132 |
| Cape Charles Town | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Our investigation revealed Virginia Beach has by far the most amount of DUI's in Hampton Roads. But why?
"There's multiple reasons for that one of which is that more tourist town. People show up to Virginia Beach looking to have a good time on vacation and they tend to have too much to drink and get behind the wheel of their car. But there's also another factor in there I believe we have an extremely well trained police department has a dedicated units every night who's out looking for drunk drivers," said Colin Stolle, Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney.
Stolle says out here on Shore Drive is a place where they see many DUI's, other hot spots are the Oceanfront and Town Center.
"In this day and age there should be no reason for anybody to get behind the wheel impaired because we have all sorts of means of transportation within the commonwealth," said Mike Goodove, President of the southside chapter of M.A.D.D.
President of the Southside Chapter of M.A.D.D. Mike Goodove knows the pain of what happens when people choose to drink and drive. Back in 1990 his brother was killed by a drunk driver.
"It's devastating it gives the victims family a life sentence. Devastates them because they're without their loved ones and also for the impaired driver they have to live with that that's prison within itself and worse than going to jail," he explained.
And a DUI is expensive. it will also cost you thousands of dollars.
They say it's simple – plan ahead.
"If you know you're going out for the holidays New Year's whatever it is and you know you're going have drinks it just takes a few minutes to plan on how you're going to get home," stated Stolle.
Getting a ride, calling a cab or a ride share – even public transportation.
READ MORE: Free Lyft rides to prevent drunk driving in Hampton Roads this New Year's Eve
Keeping the roads and our community safe.
