HAMPTON, Va. - A group of concerned citizens in the city of Hampton are taking action to protect their community.
The group is called the Buckroe Beach Citizens Safety Patrol - they are a network of men and women that have taken to Facebook hoping to make a difference.
One of their organizers, Jason Sharpe, told NewsChannel 3 the final straw was seeing a young teen get beaten up while a bunch of other kids watched and did nothing to stop it. A recent homicide at the KFC was another tragic event that got the community's attention.
Christopher Reed, a member of the group said, "everyone is trying to be the next world star video and everything or the next YouTube video or viral star for putting something so negative on."
Reed and more than 70 other residents have decided to start neighborhood watches, organize events for kids and put some positive energy back on the streets. Reed said their goal is change; "nobody’s trying to be a vigilante or anything like that, it's about when you see something try to stop it and if you can’t stop it let law enforcement know that something is going on."
Reed's brother was killed at the age of 18 by a stray bullet from an altercation going on across the street. Although Reed's brother was not involved, he was the one taken and Reed does not want to see that happen to anyone else. "He wasn’t even involved in so with a lot of us there are personal connections to these incidents that have been happening," said Reed.
Many of the members are former law enforcement, military vets, fathers, husbands, but above all they are concerned citizens trying to better the city they call home.
