PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins recently broke down his plans for a safer city, laying out his goals for 2024 and discussing the latest crime statistics at a forum last week.
According to Jenkins, in 2023, overall violent crime in Portsmouth dropped by 2.5%. Property crime dropped by about 6%. Jenkins noted that officers recovered nearly 700 stolen vehicles last year.
“It is a start," Jenkins said. "So, we’re going to take every reduction that we can get.”
Mayor Shannon Glover told 13News Now that he's optimistic that the city’s moving in the right direction.
“We’re making a lot of strides. So, overall, we’re trending in the right way," Mayor Glover said.
To reach his goal of a 15% reduction in crime this year, Chief Jenkins said he’ll need to hire at least 40 more police officers.
“We absolutely need more police officers," the chief told the crowd last week. "You see it in your response times. You see it in your calls back from when you’ve been a victim of a crime.”
Chief Jenkins said the department is working to expand technology. He wants to increase Flock safety cameras around the city and expand gunshot detection to another three square miles.
However, both Chief Jenkins and Mayor Glover say community engagement is needed in curbing violence.
“Crime is a whole community initiative – fighting crime. So, what that means is we need people to be our eyes and ears," Mayor Glover said.
That’s where Portsmouth United comes in. Chief Jenkins calls it a community-based approach to reduce gun violence. He said the program generated success in Omaha, Nebraska and he hopes to see similar results in Portsmouth.
Mayor Glover said the goal is for law enforcement and community members to work together on intervention and prevention programs.
“...All working together collaboratively to bring resources and ideas on the best practices on how we can reduce crime in the City of Portsmouth," the mayor said.
The Portsmouth Police Department is holding an information meeting about Portsmouth United next Thursday. For more information, click here.