NORFOLK, Va. — The City of Norfolk has seen an uptick in crime over the past few years. Between shootings, homicides, car thefts, and more, police officers and prosecutors have worked to figure out how to reduce the number of crimes.
Now, in 2023, Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot reported during his first public safety briefing Tuesday night that the city saw a drop in crime.
"Homicides are down 40% year-to-date," Talbot said during the meeting.
According to our 13News Now records, there were 25 homicides during the first quarter of 2022. Compare that to 15 homicides recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
It's a positive trend the City of Norfolk is finally seeing, following a series of crimes that have still yet to be solved entirely, such as the March 2022 quintuple shooting outside Chichos in Downtown Norfolk
Talbot said this year's quarterly report shows we are seeing fewer crimes by 9% compared to this time last year.
"It's definitely moving in the right direction here in Norfolk," said Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney, Ramin Fatehi.
Fatehi said there is no perfect, singular rhyme or reason as to why these numbers dropped. He said there are several contributing factors, including the police department utilizing advanced technology as they work to improve the staffing shortage.
Chief Talbot touted the installation of 172 new Flock Safety cameras. The devices can read license plates.
They are strategically placed across the city in areas like crime hotspots and city borders. All are working to help officers stop violent offenders or crack cases including car larcenies.
"There has also been an increase in coverage of cameras, both in the private and public sector. That has provided for some increased success in not just investigations, but also in prosecutions, enabling my lawyers to make cases in court," said Fatehi. "We've also seen some national decreases in crime as we come out further from the COVID crisis that was a major contributor to crime increase and violence increase nationally."
While the number of shootings is down in the Mermaid City, Fatehi said we may need to wait until we get our hopes up for better numbers.
"We will see an increase in violence in the summer because we have it every summer everywhere," said Fatehi. "It will take a lot more in one quarter in Norfolk or anywhere else to be able to see what the overall trends are."
Fatehi said this latest data shows how city leaders and the community can help make changes to create a more permanent solution for Norfolk.