History

The function that has come to be know as the Party Patrol was founded based on grant money for the Department of Criminal Justice sponsored by the Virginia Alcoholic Control Board (VA-ABC). The term party patrol was coined by the local VCU student during the early days when the FDA was funding the Richmond Police Department officers over-time hours during the grant period. The purpose of the grant was to curb underage drinking in the target area and to educate residents about alcohol abuse. The grant ran on Federal Fund for the years 2003-2005. In 2005 there ware so many applicants for the grant due to nation-wide problems, specifically in those areas hosting university campuses that the FDA was no longer able to take advantage of the program.

Why do we need the neighborhood patrol?

Well the short answer is we should not! Why because when young adults are out on their own they should have develop a sense of responsibility and the desire to work with the community to make it a better place to live, and many do just that. However, as we have come to learn many young adults have neither respect for the neighborhood or their neighbors. Add to this that the Fan District Association is still interested in reducing underage drinking by individuals who are not adult enough to be responsible. This is not to say that older more mature adults do not have parties, they do, and on occasion they may even get noisy. The issue is whether the noise and behavior violate State and City ordinances.

After several years of operating this program, it became clear that it not only encourages responsible use of alcohol, and significantly reduced noise nuisance between the hours of Midnight and 4 AM; it also reduced non-violent crime each year. Un 2007 the RPD confirmed that the additional officers on the street during high-crime hours (9pm - 3am) significantly reduced and discouraged other types of crime as well -- especially robbery and drunk-driving. For the continued safety of Fan residents (student, renters, homeowner, alike) the FDA Board has funded the program and the program will continue.