VIRGINIA BEACH — Ever wonder what in the @?#!! happened to those old “no-cursing” signs at the Oceanfront? They’ve been sitting in storage since the city took them down in 2019. Now, the Virginia Beach Police Foundation wants to sell the signs to raise money for police-related charitable programs. On Tuesday, Mayor Bobby Dyer got the greenlight from his city council colleagues to donate them to the foundation.
“We intend to use them in some fashion as a fundraiser,” said former police chief Jake Jacocks, who serves as the foundation’s president. “I think there will be a lot of people who will be interested in having them.” The foundation’s board of directors will meet in July to come up with a plan to possibly hold an auction or raffle up to 30 signs later this year, he said.
The signs feature a red circle with a diagonal line slicing through a series of symbols — @?#!!. They were displayed in the resort area for more than two decades beginning in the early 1990s. Jacocks became chief in 2000 but had previously worked as captain of the Oceanfront’s Second Precinct and in special operations when the signs debuted.
Police officers at that time were dealing with rowdy crowds after last call in “The Block,” home to a string of bars on Atlantic Avenue. The police department, resort management office and city officials came up with the sign idea and other measures to tame the masses. “They were part of our efforts to help control behavior down there,�.
