NORFOLK — Reports of violent crimes like rapes, homicides and assaults reached one of the lowest points in decades for 2025, Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot told City Council members Tuesday.
Talbot said reports of violent crime declined by 11%, from 859 reported crimes in 2024 to 761 in 2025. Homicides were also down. Police reported 26 homicides in 2025, down 30% from 37 in 2024. Nonfatal shootings dropped 24% from 74 to 56.
“So, certainly doesn’t represent a victory, but it does represent progress,” Talbot said.
Property crime — burglaries, larcenies and stolen vehicles — also declined 17%, from 8,660 reported incidents to 7,218, during the same time period.
Gun-related crimes are also declining over the long term, Talbot said. Last year, 78 shootings in which a person was killed or injured were reported. That’s a decline of 53% compared to 2023, and a decline of 61% since 2020.
In Norfolk, as well as across the country, shootings and homicides spiked in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. But violent crime rates declined back to prepandemic levels by 2022 and have continued dropping since then, according to FBI data.
Talbot said clearance rates for all major crime categories also exceeded the national averages but did not offer specific examples.
The police chief said the department is continuing to work to hire and retain officers. There are around 500 sworn staff members on the force — down from 540 at the beginning of 2024. Police spokesperson Noel Lipieko said the latest academy class would raise the number to 533.
In recent years, the department has struggled with losing officers to other nearby cities due to low pay.
Now, Talbot said the department is also losing officers to federal agencies, saying the opportunities are greater than officers had seen in any of their lifetimes. Talbot did not say which agencies officers were leaving for, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been offering new recruits up to $50,000 in signing bonuses since mid-2025, according to Associated Press reporting.
City Council member Tommy Smigiel said police departments across the region were losing officers due to the signing bonuses. He said cities were unable to compete with the offers, and asked City Manager Pat Roberts to make sure federal lawmakers representing the region know about the issue.
“The public needs to know,” Smigiel said.
Talbot also praised a network of 175 Flock Safety automatic license plate reader cameras across the city for helping expand the department’s ability to solve crimes. The cameras upload vehicle details to a temporary online database, which police can then access to aid in investigations.
“Flock cameras are a benefit to a neighborhood,” Talbot said, saying they help solve vehicle-based crimes like auto theft.
The city’s Real Time Crime Center also has access to more than 3,000 integrated camera streams from across the city as well as 342 registered cameras. Home and business owners can register their surveillance camera addresses with police through a virtual neighborhood watch program.
The Flock cameras have been challenged in court on privacy grounds, but judges have ruled in favor of the cameras several times. Most recently, a federal judge on Tuesday ruled the Norfolk Police Department’s use of the cameras did not amount to an unconstitutional invasion of city residents’ privacy. However if the city’s Flock system continues to expand, the judge said there might come a time that the surveillance system could be deemed “too intrusive” and it runs afoul of constitutional protections.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
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