Community Engagement

The VBSO’s volunteer efforts stretch through every part of the organization and touch many areas of the community. During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the Sheriff’s Office logged a total of 239,466 volunteer hours with help from 561 volunteers, including chaplains, civilian staff, sworn staff, auxiliary deputies, interns and inmates giving their time for the Workforce and Trusty programs. This equated to $8 million in savings for Virginia Beach taxpayers. Auxiliary deputies supplement VBSO operations and participate in community events, including providing free child I.D. cards. They must maintain proficiency in firearms, defensive tactics, first aid and other skills.

New Community Engagement efforts included Sheriff Rocky Holcomb’s Turkey Bowl, a charity flag football game between Virginia Beach educators and public safety officers. The second annual event on Nov. 2, 2024, raised over $3,300 for the Virginia Beach Education Foundation’s Beach Bags program, which provides take-home bags of food for food-insecure public-school students on weekends and school breaks.

Another major new initiative was Sheriff Rocky Holcomb’s Senior Safety Seminar , a free self-defense class for senior citizens taught by the VBSO’s Emergency Response Team. The class teaches situational awareness, attack motives, getting help and basic self-defense moves. Deputies have taught the class at assisted living centers, churches, libraries, recreational centers and more, with the goal of addressing the rise in attacks on seniors. This year the VBSO added a Self-Defense Seminar for the Women’s Transportation Seminar Hampton Roads Chapter, a College Prep Self-Defense Course for college-bound women and a Neighborhood Safety & Self-Defense Workshop for Council District 3.

This year’s events included a Splash into Summer at Ocean Breeze Waterpark, Sheriff Rocky Holcomb’s Back-to-School Skate Bash, The Sound of BDO (Beat da Odds) concert, Trunk or Treat and an Easter Eggstravaganza. These free events build bridges, understanding and trust between law enforcement and the community.

Sheriff Holcomb and the VBSO are ardent supporters of Special Olympics Virginia. VBSO deputies and civilians volunteer their time for various Special Olympics events throughout the year. These included the Feet Meet, Cover a Cruiser at Wawa and Tip-A-Cop. The VBSO also participated in the Polar Plunge and the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) to pass the Flame of Hope to the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office as it made its way to open the 2025 Summer Games in Richmond. The office’s Special Olympics efforts are led by Capt. Lois Thompson.

The Sheriff’s Office held five blood drives last year to support the American Red Cross, collecting 147 units of blood. It also raised money for charity through the Sheriff’s Community Fund and volunteers for Virginia Beach Crime Solvers and more, including:

  • The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, providing security for the three-day Mayflower Marathon food drive;
  • National Night Out; and
  • The Virginia Beach Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 8 Christmas shopping event for underprivileged children (Cops & Kids).

The office is actively involved in Law Enforcement United and its annual Road to Hope, a 250-mile bicycle ride to Washington, D.C., to honor fallen officers and raise money for their families and related charities. The VBSO is also active in schools, with volunteers helping on the first day, serving as mentors, participating in the Lunch with a Deputy program and giving their time at other school events.

It also maintains a strong connection with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and/or questioning (LGBTQ+) community through its LGBT Liaison Master Deputy Heidi Evertson. MD Evertson addresses the needs of the LGBTQ+ community — both inside and outside the VBSO — and builds bridges between that community and law enforcement. She is active in Pride Month, including attending Pride events in Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

Community Engagement events have included:

  • Horizon Hampton Roads Career Day
  • Sheriff Holcomb’s Splash into Summer
  • National Night Out
  • Beyond Monet Van Gogh Experience
  • Sheriff Holcomb Presents The Sounds of BDO Musical Program
  • King Tiger Martial Arts Back-to-School Bash
  • Chalice Christian Church Back-to-School Bash
  • Ebenezer Baptist Church Back-to-School Bash
  • Sheriff Holcomb’s Back-to-School Bookbag Drive
  • Seatack Recreation Center Back-to-School Community Party
  • Ghoulapalooza at Great Neck Recreation Center
  • Virginia African American Cultural Center Community Fall Festival
  • Norfolk State University Homecoming Parade
  • Sheriff Holcomb’s Trunk or Treat
  • Saint Matthew’s Career Day
  • Touch-A-Trunk at Town Center
  • Boy Scouts of America Presentation at Red Mill Elementary School
  • School Fair at Renaissance Academy
  • Santapalooza at Hunt Club Farm
  • First Responder’s Welcome Home Parade for Miah Carmine (completed cancer treatment)
  • Christmas Caroling with Savvy Senior Connections
  • African American Male Summit at Green Run High School
  • Night to Shine Prom
  • Unveiling of the Willis Augustus Hodges Historic Highway Marker
  • Read to Students Day at Malibu Elementary School
  • Student Forum on Law Enforcement at Tallwood High School
  • TRIAD Community Meeting
  • Child ID for the Law Enforcement Officer Community at Maverick Learning Center
  • Touch-A-Trunk at Providence Elementary School
  • Arrive Alive kickoff at Tallwood High School
  • Pembroke Elementary School’s Exceptional Mustangs Day
  • Career Day at White Oaks Elementary School
  • Touch-A-Trunk at Broad Bay Country Club
  • Partee Against Cancer community fair
  • Sheriff Holcomb’s Eggstravaganza Easter Egg Hunt
  • Midway Manor Community Day
  • Touch-A-Trunk at Williams Farm Recreation Center
  • Touch-A-Trunk at Holy Family Day School
  • Girls on the Run 5k at Virginia Wesleyan University
  • Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Virginia
  • Special Olympics Summer Games in Richmond
  • Birchwood Civic League Summer Kickoff community day
  • Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs
  • Atlantis Family Community Day
  • Freedom Festival at Mount Trashmore

The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office Community Outreach Coordinator Gary Zalas is involved in numerous VBSO volunteer events, with his primary focus being providing child I.D.s and safety initiatives for senior citizens. He sits on the executive boards of both SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together) and Virginia Beach TRIAD, which seek to arm senior citizens with the information they need to protect themselves and avoid becoming victims of crime. In addition, Zalas serves on the boards of Project Lifesaver, the Virginia Gang Investigators Association and Senior Services of Southeastern Virginia (SSEVA) and serves as chair of SSEVA’s Services Advisory Council. He is also a commissioner on the Mayor’s Commission on Aging, is active in his local church and donates to the Sheriff Community Fund, Special Olympics Virginia, United Way and more.

Zalas’ efforts for seniors include providing home safety assessments, giving safety/educational presentations, delivering food, participating in the VBSO’s Senior Safety Seminars, and providing mobility devices and other medical equipment. He also manages dozens of Project Lifesaver clients, handling sign-ups and making regular visits to ensure trackers are working properly, in addition to raising money for the organization. He is active in the VBSO’s volunteer events, including Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs, the Mayflower Marathon Food Drive for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, and much more.

To contact Community Engagement/VBConnect, email Capt. Johnson at kljohnso@vbso.net .

For more information on the VBSO’s community engagement, follow us on social media .

To request Honor Guard participation in an event, please download and fill out the VBSO Honor Guard Request Form and submit it to vbsohonorguard@vbgov.com .

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