HAMPTON, Va. – Since starting in July 2021, Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot has made it his goal to tackle crime. One of his strategies included adding more boots on the ground in hot spots.
“We have pockets of neighborhoods that aren’t safe. That’s where we will be,” Talbot said during a press conference in January.
Under his leadership, violent crimes went down in 2022. Statistics from the city showed murders decreased by 25% compared to the previous year.
That trend, however, took a turn for the worse at the start of 2023.
“We’ve seen a spike in violence in January that has been alarming,” Talbot said.
Talbot called January the single deadliest month he’s seen in his time serving as chief in the city with nine people killed in that month alone.
According to police, there have been a total of 14 people shot and killed in Hampton so far this year, which is roughly double the number of homicides the city saw in 2022 over the same time period.
“There’s a lot of work to do to bring it back to quote-on-quote normal levels, which feels like an oxymoron,” said Talbot.
Mayor Donnie Tuck commended Talbot’s work, adding he gained the trust of his officers and community.
“It’s the leadership,” Tuck said. “It’s the confidence that the personnel has in following that leader, and I think he’s done a great job in that respect.”
Talbot has accepted the position as Norfolk's new police chief and will start May 1.
The veteran law enforcement officer will be leaving Hampton with one major, national case left unsolved. Four-year-old Codi Bigsby’s body has still never been found since he went missing in January of 2022. No one has been charged in the case.
“It’s an active investigation,” Talbot said in January of this year. “It’s a whole buffet of tragedies that we’ve dealt with over the last year. We believe that ultimately justice will be done in that case.”
News 3 reached out to police and city leaders and are still waiting to hear back on when Talbot’s last day will be as Hampton’s chief of police.
Going forward, Mayor Tuck said he’d like to continue some of the crime strategies Talbot helped to roll out.
