NORFOLK, Va. — Crime rates dropped significantly in the City of Norfolk last year.
In fact, Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said crime across the city fell by 24% in 2023 compared to the year before.
Fatehi told 13News Now that in 2021 and 2022, crime rates jumped significantly, not only in the City of Norfolk but across the nation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in 2023, he said the city is tracking with what the FBI is seeing nationally, which could be the largest decrease in the national crime rate the agency has ever recorded.
13News Now spoke with some Norfolk residents about safety in the city.
Resident Carlton Brown said he feels safer than he did two years ago. He said in the summer of 2022, someone shot his truck and the bullet grazed his wife.
“My wife, she was like, ‘Go, go, I’ve been hit!’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I look at her and she’s slumped over in the passenger seat," Carlton recounted. “With the crime being down, yeah, it’s making me feel good.”
Resident Derek Turrietta told 13News Now he also had a dangerous encounter two years ago when he was the victim of a home intrusion.
"I am thrilled that [crime is] down, and I expect it to keep going that way," Turrietta said.
Fatehi said in 2023, robberies fell by 31%, and car thefts fell by 20%. The Commonwealth's attorney said non-deadly shootings dropped by 32% and homicides dropped by 33%.
"Twenty-one fewer people killed in Norfolk last year," Fatehi said. "These are real numbers with real people behind them.”
When it comes to crime reduction, Fatehi gave much of the credit to the Norfolk Police Department and Chief Mark Talbot. He said despite a shortage of officers, the department has "reallocated manpower" to work efficiently.
Fatehi also accredits the use of "intelligence-based policing."
"It means trying to identify the small number of people who are driving a disproportionate amount of violence," Fatehi explained.
Fatehi also pointed to new technology, such as the FLOCK camera system. He said with the help of this system, auto thefts that would’ve taken days or weeks to solve are now getting solved in hours.
“It’s not every day that you see that sort of game-changing technology," the Commonwealth's attorney said.