PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins broke down the city’s crime statistics at a community forum Wednesday night.
The city broke a record last year with 42 killings in the city and this year is on trend to match that record.
The chief said 34 people have lost their lives to violence citywide so far this year. That’s the same number for this time period last year.
But, the chief said detectives are working diligently in solving each of these cases.
“We’ve had four homicides that have occurred in Dales Homes this year. All four of those homicides, we’ve been able to make arrests in every single one of them,” Chief Jenkins said.
In terms of aggravated assaults, those numbers are up year to date from 182 this year compared to 155 last year.
Chief Jenkins also discussed car thefts.
“I could spend the next hour talking about the theft of vehicles,” he said.
He said of the 559 stolen cars in the city, the department has recovered 375.
But, the chief said year to date, there’s been a 2% decrease in overall crime.
“We're going to celebrate any small victory that we have," he said. "We’re hoping that we’re going to be able to increase that.”
In positive news, Chief Jenkins said department received about $2.8 million from the state to use for equipment and grassroot efforts.
He also said the department is looking to start a domestic violence team to assist victims.
"...There's so many victims, and not enough services when it comes to being able to deal with victims of domestic violence," Chief Jenkins said.
In terms of department vacancies, the chief said they’re down about 90 officers. That’s roughly 30% of the force.