CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Mark Solesky is no longer second in command.
"The transition from deputy chief to chief hasn’t really been all that different, since I've been intimately involved in decision-making for 14 years," Solesky said.
Solesky first joined the ranks of the Chesapeake Police Department after completing the police academy in 1986. Fast forward decades later: Solesky is now the newly named chief of police for CPD.
"I've been in law enforcement pretty much my entire adult life," Solesky said.
13News Now sat down with Solesky for the first time since city leaders officially announced him in the role last week. He shared that despite his new title, it doesn't mean crime automatically comes to a full stop.
“When there was two people in the world, Adam and Eve, they stole the apple and there was crime. As long as we have people, we’re going to have crime. So, it's important to do what we can, which is stay engaged with the community,” Solesky said.
13News Now requested a breakdown of CPD's recorded offenses between January to July of 2022. Here's what it finds:
- Homicides: 15
- Sex Offenses: 125
- Robberies: 73
- Aggravated Assaults: 595
- Simple Assaults: 1583
- Burglaries: 232
- Larcenies: 2551
- Motor Vehicle Thefts: 218
These numbers are reported at a time when the department is down dozens of sworn vacancies.
"Currently 43 sworn vacancies," Solesky said. "Can’t do some of the things we’d like to do if we were fully staffed, like being visible in the community with bike patrols. Where we have vacancies in the criminal investigation section, detectives have more cases assigned to them to investigate than if we were fully staffed.”
Solesky added that it’s too soon to tell if his new role will bring any change to their recruiting efforts, but the department will still lean heavily on its full-time recruiter.
“We have a full plan with benchmarks that our recruiter puts forth," Solesky said.
“I think right now, the police department is more reactionary rather than being proactive with special units, like traffic enforcement, anti-burglary, anti-theft," Robert Ike Jr. said, a member of Chesapeake City Council.
Ike Jr. isn't worried, though. He graduated from the police academy in the same class as Solesky and said he's a natural-born leader.
“Always found the silver lining in a dark cloud," he said.
“I'm not professing to have all the answers, but I will constantly solicit input from the men and women on the department, both sworn, civilian," he said.
Solesky spent 14 years as the department's deputy chief under former Chief of Police Kelvin Wright. He now becomes the seventh chief in department history.