NORFOLK, Va. — During Tuesday's Norfolk City Council work session, Police Chief Mark Talbot presented an update on crime.
The chief's presentation showed, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 22, 2023, overall violent crime saw a 40% decrease from the same time period during the previous year.
Chief Talbot credited good policing for that decrease. He also praised technology like the recent addition of Flock cameras which help law enforcement find suspect, missing people and stolen vehicles.
"I think the smart thing for us to do will always be to add additional capacity, not remove it from any particular neighborhood," the chief said. "We are paying attention to where an additional camera may have made a difference and requesting to expand appropriately."
But while the data show homicides are down across the city, other violent crimes, like rape and domestic violence crimes, saw an increase in 2023. Rape cases are up 11% and domestic assaults are up 19%.
That caught the attention of Councilwoman Andria McClellan.
"Can we as a city, is there more that we can do, could we do a better job of supporting those non-profit centers that support victims of domestic violence?" she asked. "That’s a real issue."
Following the meeting, News 3's Jay Greene asked Chief Talbot about safety in the area around Norfolk State University. It comes after 20-year-old Jahari George, and NSU student from Maryland, was gunned down earlier in September.
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"We are working very closely with the Norfolk State University Police Department. They are attending our meetings where we spend time talking about fatal, non-fatal shootings and we've made sure that we're collaborating closely with them," Chief Talbot said. "So we believe that we will continue to make a safer University, and the area surrounding it is going to continue to be part of what we're paying attention to."
During the meeting, another council member asked about an update on the Real Time Crime Center. It would be a centralized location to monitor real time video data from across the city. The chief said it's not active yet, but should be online by February or March 2024.
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