NORFOLK, Va. — Monday night, Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot sat down with the local chapter of the NAACP to talk about the future of policing in the city.
The meeting comes months after Norfolk NAACP President Stacie Armstead called for former City Manager Chip Filer's resignation over the way Talbot was hired.
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Filer resigned for seemingly unrelated reasons in June.
"This opportunity presented itself. I took a look at this city and felt that my skills, my passion, my experiences would serve this city well," Talbot told the crowd at Second Cavalry Baptist Church.
Armstead said this meeting was all about building relationships.
"Building a sense of community between the NAACP and the Norfolk Police Department to show that we are trying to move forward and build a climate of trust," she said.
Despite a rocky start to that relationship, Armstead said it's time to get to work, together.
"That was April. Now is now and we're ready to move forward and ready to get to work," said Armstead.
During the hour long meeting, Talbot took questions from the crowd about his plans to fight crime and connect with citizens.
“I have a lot of energy, I have a lot of intensity in me to do this work,” said Talbot.
He also listed his top three priorities for the city:
- Going after violent crime in vulnerable communities
- Engaging with the public
- Getting to know the city of Norfolk and its police officers
Amina Matheny Willard posed her question to Talbot about how he's going to go about building those relationships.
Talbot responded by highlighting the need for 'relational policing' in the city.
"Strategically and systematically getting out of our police cars and building positive relationships in the community," he said. "It's not going to be something that just happens haphazardly. It's going to be a part of what we're doing each and every day.
Talbot said building that trust won't happen overnight, or without a plan.
"We have to have as complex a policing strategy as the conditions are that we're confronting."
Patricia Bracknell, Executive Director for Norfolk's Hispanic Chamber of Commerce pointed out Norfolk has the second largest Hispanic population in Hampton Roads. With that being said, she asked Talbot what he's to doing to ensure his officers can understand that community.
Talbot said teaching his officers to become fluent in Spanish is not feasible on top of everything else they are asked to do. However, he did say his department is putting an emphasis on attracting and hiring Spanish speaking officers.
Moderator and Norfolk NAACP Political Action Chair Keenen Baskerville said he hopes to continue the conversation in the months and years to come.
"I hope people got some clarity on what's going on around Norfolk, different practices that the new police chief will be using," he said. "But I really hope that the sense of unity and collaboration is here."