RICHMOND, VA - Virginia police are concerned about Governor Bob McDonnell's recent proposal to privatize its liquor stores, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

For 76 years, Virginia has held a monopoly on its liquor business, but that will change should Virginia's General Assembly agree to McDonnell's proposal. And in a college town like Ashland with one state-owned liquor store, that number is likely to rise, along with alcohol-related crimes, an unwelcome result for the state's law enforcement officers.

"There's no doubt there would be an increase in outlets," said Police Chief Douglas A. Goodman Jr. "I'm not aware of what the number is going to be."

Virginia's law enforcement officials met with the governor's staff, addressing concerns about the effects of privatizing the state's liquor business.

While there are currently 334 state-owned liquor stores across the state, local police are uneasy about the prospect of up to 1,000 private liquor retailers, an influx that is likely to spike consumption in a state where drinking is relatively modest.

"They want to increase consumption," said Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. "I hope an increase in consumption doesn't mean an increase in alcohol-related violations."

McDonnell is trying to allay their fears, and his staff has assured them localities will have a strong say in the licensing of liquor store outlets. And the governor has not pushed a privatization proposal that could have issued licenses to thousands of businesses that currently sell wine and beer off premises, to the relief of law enforcement officials.

However, police are still concerned that the state lacks the money to expand its Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), which has lost one-third of its agents in the past eight years. Since 2003, the division's number of sworn field agents has dropped from 124 to 83, with 16 positions unfilled because of the state's budget woes.

"We have to beef up the number of agents out there," said Eric Finkbeiner, senior policy adviser to the governor and a point man for privatization. He said he expects license fees for wholesale and retail distributors to generate money, along with taxes from increased sales, which would be used to expand enforcement staff across the state.

Proponents of privatizations maintain enforcement won't change under the governor's plan.

"They don't control the delivery and sale [of liquor] but, as they do with beer, they regulate the delivery and sales," said Theodore "Trey" Adams, a Richmond attorney representing retailers at ABC. "It's not like it's going to be 800 new buildings selling liquor," he said.