NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot said crime is down about 10% and violent crime is down even more in 2024 after a significant decrease last year.
Talbot outlined the positive crime statistics in an update to Norfolk City Council during Tuesday’s work session.
“We’re doing really well, in a really great place,” Talbot said.
Norfolk’s numbers are part of greater trend of downward crime rates nationwide, per FBI statistics, with murder, violent crime and property crime down overall.
Non-fatal shootings this year to date are down 50% from last year, Talbot said, with 26 homicides in the city so far this year. There were 42 homicides reported in the city in 2023.
The two most recent shootings in the city took the lives of 18-year-old men.
On Sept. 3, Jamel Jones was shot and killed on Kimball Terrace. And a month prior, John Daughtry was shot and killed on East Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Some stats are up this year, like larcenies, which Talbot said is mostly due to thefts from ABC stores.
Here are some other stats that dropped:
- Aggravated assaults: down 30%
- Robbery: down 23%
- Violent crime: down 28%
- Property crime: down 7%
In addition to sharing year to date updates, Talbot also shared a chart of crime stats through the second quarter of 2024, which ended June 30.
Talbot added that, according to resident surveys, residents are saying “they feel safer, feel safer in the daytime and at nighttime.”
“The level of trust in the police department is up and I think it maps fairly well onto the objective crime figures,” he said.
As for 911 staffing, vacancies moved from 37 to 28, and there are nine new telecommunicators set to begin training on Oct. 7. Talbot said the average call answer times for 911 are steadily dropping as well, at 38 seconds on average compared to 55 seconds in June 2023.
Talbot said Norfolk’s new Real Time Crime Center, a near 24/7 surveillance hub that moved into city hall back in May, is also almost fully staffed with the upcoming addition of two more analysts. The full staffing, which includes eight analysts, four officers, a sergeant and an administrative assistant, will allow NPD to operate the center 20 hours a day, Talbot said.
The presentation also included information on registering cameras from businesses and residents with the police department. Talbot said the department won’t have access to your live camera, but police may request video if a crime took place nearby.
Talbot last spoke about the city’s crime statistics in January, where he said violent crime and crime overall were down significantly in Norfolk, with a 33% decrease in homicides in 2023 compared to 2022.
You can watch Tuesday’s full presentation here.