VIRGINIA BEACH — A local police officer was arrested for drunk driving in July, and a Virginia Beach judge found her guilty on Nov. 15, according to court records.
Allyson Whitfield was convicted of driving while intoxicated and was sentenced to 365 days in jail with 350 suspended, leaving 15 days to serve.
Whitfield is scheduled to report to jail on Dec. 7 to serve her time, said Macie Allen, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Allen said there is a notation in the court file “that she is allowed to serve her time in the Chesapeake jail,” if the Chesapeake Sheriff’s and the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s offices “agree on that.”
Whitfield was also ordered to pay $736 in fines and court costs and will be required to attend VASAP, a 20-hour program for probationers focusing on substance abuse and its relationship to highway safety.
Whitfield’s driver’s license will also be restricted for one year. Those restrictions will include only being able to drive to and from work, substance abuse classes, a medical necessity, and to transport a minor child. She will also have a breathalyzer in her ignition which will not start unless she blows into it.
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Whitfield is not the only Virginia Beach cop to be arrested in 2018. Sgt. Shawn Walter Hoffman of the department’s Internal Investigation Division was arrested July 1 and charged with one count of misdemeanor assault and battery of a “family member.”
Police Chief Jim Cervera’s July mid-year report noted an uptick in DUI arrests during the first half of 2018. Police arrested 910 adults for DUI between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2017, and during those same months in 2018, police arrested 1,033 adults — an increase of 13.5 percent.
Cervera was not immediately available for comment.
Potential Virginia Beach Police recruits face a list of “automatic disqualifiers” that would bar them from the force if picked up on a background check. In the list of disqualifiers: any conviction of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol within the last 5 years.
However, it remains unclear whether that disqualifier applies to those who are are already on the force. Virginia Beach Police Public Affairs Officer Linda Kuehn was asked for specifics on the police department’s policies, but did not immediately respond to Southside Daily’s inquiries.
Kuehn said Whitfield is still employed with the VBPD, but that she is currently on administrative duties.
