HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - A deadly year for Hampton Roads and Northeastern North Carolina with a total of 129 homicides reported as of December 19, 2017.
That number is much lower than 181, the 2016 homicide total for the same area.
Broken down by city, Norfolk had the highest number of homicides with more than 30. Almost every city in the Tidewater area went down in number except Portsmouth who went from 16 homicides in 2016 to 18 homicides this year.
News 3 spoke to Newport News police after the most recent homicide on Monday night. They hope this is it for the 2017 year but say even one homicide is one too many.The department cited community involvement as a reason numbers may be down and they say they are continuing to hire officers hoping to get their fleet to full staff.
| CITY | HOMICIDE TOTAL: 2016 | HOMICIDE TOTAL: 2017 |
| Norfolk | 45 | 39 |
| Newport News | 31 | 23 |
| Hampton | 23 | 17 |
| Virginia Beach | 18 | 16 |
| Portsmouth | 12 | 16 |
| Chesapeake | 15 | 8 |
| Suffolk | 4 | 2 |
| Gloucester | 1 | 3 |
| Franklin | 0 | 1 |
| Elizabeth City | 4 | 1 |
| Southampton County | 4 | 0 |
| Bertie County | 6 | 0 |
| Accomack County | 5 | 1 |
| Williamsburg | 2 | 0 |
| Ahoskie | 1 | 0 |
| Edenton | 1 | 1 |
| Northampton County, NC | 2 | 2 |
| Northampton County | 1 | 1 |
| James City county | 1 | 2 |
| Smithfield | 0 | 2 |
| OTHER | 3 | 1 |
Many of these homicides remain unsolved and if you have any information that can help solve these cases call the crime line at 1-888-LOCK U UP.
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