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Police outline deer-management options, including officer-led culling and urban-archery
Summary
Deputy Chief Crowley briefed council on rising deer complaints and options: supplement contractor culling with a trained team of 6–8 sworn officers, pursue urban-archery with a local ordinance and state permission, and rely on Hunters for the Hungry for carcass processing.
Deputy Chief Crowley told council that deer in Roanoke fall under state wildlife authority, and that the city’s records show contractor culling was not performed from 2020–2023, a lapse that may have allowed the deer population to grow. He proposed supplementing contractor work by training 6–8 sworn officers to begin culling earlier in the season and to respond more quickly to neighborhood complaints.
"They're not our deer. The deer are they belong to the state," Crowley said, noting that any local program must align with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. He described urban-archery as another option (which requires state permission and a local ordinance), explained that officer-led programs in other jurisdictions have used suppressed rifles, and said meat from harvests goes to the state-managed Hunters for the Hungry program for processing.
