Ashland is a small town with a major crossroads that can morph into gridlock when there's so much as a fender bender on nearby Interstate 95.

It's also a stopover for thousands of people visiting nearby attractions and even serves as a kind of bed and breakfast for race-goers.

It's a small town with a relatively large police force, but considering its important position in the center of central Virginia, a police force of 23 doesn't seem extravagant.

Consider, too, that the "Corporation of Ashland" covers slightly more than 7 square miles. Richmond, 15 minutes away, covers 64 square miles and has about 700 officers. That's almost 11 police officers for every square mile of Richmond, and less than three for Ashland.

So, now who has a large police force?

Ashland Chief Frederic Pleasants Jr. knows the size of his department exceeds the national standards, based on the official population of 6,619, not counting 1,200 Randolph-Macon College students.

But it's not like the police don't have enough to do.

No one would deny that Ashland is safe. The town has had two murders in the six years that Pleasants has been chief. Last year, there were 319 crimes reported. Pleasants estimates that 240-250 are theft, and a lot of them are shoplifting.

There were seven aggravated assaults last year, all by people who knew the people they assaulted, none of them involving guns, and all of them solved. There were five or six rapes, all by people who knew the people they raped, and all solved.

Pleasants, 54, came to Ashland after a full career as a Richmond police officer. As of last month, he had 35 years in as an officer.

His town is surrounded by Hanover County, which has its own sheriff's department that does some work inside the town limits. State police patrol the adjacent I-95.

The Town Council has allowed Pleasants to add an officer each of the past two years. Ashland officers often don't stay long, because larger police forces are calling.

"We have to deal with issues of retention and recruitment," Pleasants said. "If we lose two officers, it throws us into a real dilemma."

The major issue for police? Transients.

There are 1,350 motel rooms in town. "One reason is [Paramount's] Kings Dominion. We're a drop-off point, people just traveling through."

The two weekends there are NASCAR races in Richmond, Ashland's motels sell out.

And then there is the traffic. "An accident on 95 will throw thousands of vehicles on Route 1. The town is gridlocked."

But mostly, despite the traffic and the transients, it's a small town with a good size police force that keeps busy but isn't overwhelmed.

"It's a nice place to live," Pleasants said.

Contact staff writer Gordon Hickey at ghickey@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6449.