CHESAPEAKE, Va. — City leaders from all across Hampton Roads sat down at a roundtable to discuss rising crime throughout the area.
"We are here to find solutions," said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer. "If there were an easy solution, it would have happened decades ago. This is going to take time, but what we are doing here is taking one more step."
The mayors from five cities -- Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Hampton -- all swapped ideas for what their next steps should be.
At the top of the agenda were four pieces of legislation to consider that leaders say could help stop crime.
This includes asking for more state assistance when issuing temporary detention orders, adding "Conflict Resolution Skills" to all K-12 schools, investing in a research project to seek answers on how technology fights crime, and bringing retired law enforcement officers back into full-time duties.
Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover said all of these aspects are needed in order to fight the rising crime.
"We are going to send out a unified message that crime and violence are not accepted in our communities, it starts here, but it's multi-faceted and we need everyone at the table to ensure its success," said Mayor Glover.
In the end, all five mayors unanimously passed these legislative policies to be placed for "recommendation" for their October 20 meeting. During that meeting, city leaders will vote one more time on all the items they want the General Assembly to take a closer look at.