HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) – Hampton has named a lifetime city resident and experienced law enforcement leader as its next police chief.
Jimmie Wideman was named Hampton police chief Wednesday after being the second-ranked candidate for the chief’s job two years ago. He replaces Mark Talbot, who left to become police chief in Norfolk.
“I am eager to return to my city of Hampton family and fully invest myself in service to our community,” Wideman said in a statement.
Wideman starts July 31 and will make $195,000, the expected midpoint of the police chief salary range after fiscal year 2024 pay adjustments.
Following Talbot’s exit, City Manager Mary Bunting asked both City Council and the prior community panel members if they still felt comfortable with Wideman being selected police chief, and “overwhelmingly, people expressed support for his selection,” according to a city news release.
“I am so thrilled that Jimmie Wideman was able to accept our offer to be Hampton’s next police chief,” Bunting said. “He brings the perfect balance of HPD knowledge, professional experience and the professional distance to see pathways to improvement that comes from having served in other locations.”
Wideman said that when Bunting first reached out to him, he was excited but not in the position to accept the job. However, he recently reached out to the city manager and let her know of his interest in the job. Hampton had been in contact with a national search firm, but no search had yet to begin.
Talbot, who had been sworn in as Hampton’s police chief in May 2021, had not initially been a finalist for the Norfolk police chief job, but
Bunting thanked Interim Chief Orrin Gallop for what she said was the great job he has done, along with Interim Deputy Chief Kenneth Ferguson. Both will remain in their respective roles until Wideman starts.
Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell said he looked forward to working with Wideman.
“I have worked closely with Jimmy Wideman for two decades,” Bell said. “He is a strategic visionary in law enforcement. Moreover, I look forward to partnering with his proven leadership to increase public safety and positively impact the quality of life of our residents.”
Wideman began his service to Hampton as a volunteer with the Northampton Fire and Rescue Squad when he was 16, attending the Tidewater Regional Fire Academy after graduating Bethel High School in 1987.
He joined the the Hampton Fire and Rescue Division as a medic firefighter in 1988 and also worked for the Hampton Newport News Community Services Board as a social detox technican.
Wideman joined the Hampton Police Division in 1994 and worked several assignments, including public information, special projects and recruiting, along with several command assignments in investigative services, professional standards and a firearms enforcement task force.
He retired as a captain in the Hampton Police Division in 2019. Since then, he has worked as an intelligence analyst for the law enforcement division of the Department of the Air Force in Quantico. There, he provided tactical and strategic analysis to investigations and operations to support the Air Force’s law enforcement mission.
Wideman has a bachelors in sociology and a masters of criminal justice from Saint Leo University. He also has had additional leadership and police disciplines training from the FBI’s national academy, the University of Virginia senior executive institute and Command Officers Program.