NORFOLK, Va. — Tuesday, new Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot addressed council members for the first time about recent crime rates in the city.
Talbot was sworn in on May 1. He came to Norfolk after serving as the police chief in Hampton.
Norfolk city council work session has just started. On the agenda includes a public safety briefing from new @NorfolkPD chief Mark Talbot. This will be Talbot's first briefing before city council members since officially becoming chief on 5/1 @WTKR3
— Zak Dahlheimer (@ZakDahlheimer) May 23, 2023
When looking at citywide year to date stats comparing last year and this year, Talbot said the city's total violent crime was down seven percent.
Murders are down 40 percent.
However, Talbot said stolen vehicles have risen by 30 percent across the city, with Kias being the make most frequently stolen.
“We have to have the right intel [and] the right data that’s supporting the work that we’re doing,” Talbot said.
Talbot also gave an update on the city's Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), including technology on the way and that's already cracking down on crime.
“It really is the right technology for what policing needs now,” he said.
Once fully outfitted, the center can give police officers immediate information like vehicle descriptions, victim and suspect criminal histories and relationship details, live feed video of incidents, and evidence to be used to further investigations.
“We will be able to synthesize those public and private sources into this one space, where this will all come together,” Talbot said.
Talbot told city council members one component of the center that’s already up and running are Flock Safety Cameras.
According to NPD, 172 cameras have been purchased, installed and operating in the city.
These are cameras that can capture, not just license plate numbers, but other features of a car that can help officers solve crimes, including stolen vehicles.
“It gives us the opportunity to do work without checking for stolen cars and missing people, just willy nilly,” Talbot said.
Talbot added these cameras are placed in locations based on crime data from shootings, larcenies, stolen cars, and high priority calls for service.
“This gives us the opportunity to rely on the technology [and] to reduce our footprint on the city in an appropriate way so that we’re not pulling over cars just to pull over cars,” he said.
Norfolk native Gary Layne is pleased with cameras already set up in his hometown, and the city’s investment in new crime fighting technology.
“It takes a lot of horsepower, a lot of technology,” Layne said. “I think the City of Norfolk is taking their time to try and get the right technology here.”
He believes more cameras will help in the long run.
“The bad nights will happen, but hopefully there’s few and far between those bad nights as we get better with the cameras,” Layne said.
Talbot said Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Isle of Wight County, and Franklin currently have Flock installed, and that the RTCC would increase intelligence sharing between neighboring jurisdictions.
He also mentioned two other Hampton Roads cities, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, are having Flock cameras installed.
As for when the space at City Hall for the RTCC will be completed, Talbot said that’s expected to be this fall.
