PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The Portsmouth Crime and Prevention Task Force met Monday to brainstorm ideas to tackle crime and fill in gaps across the city.
“We all know as citizens of Portsmouth, here in the community of Hampton Roads, Portsmouth has a major crime problem,” said task force chairman Jaylin Drewry. “And people that are from Portsmouth know that it’s a major crime problem. But what the issue is, is that there are a bunch of resources, there are a bunch of opportunities to reduce crime, but we’re not working together.”
This comes after the latest round of gunfire Friday night in Olde Towne. The victim’s crashed car was found at Fort Lane and Crawford Parkway. A man died at the scene.
Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins and Councilman Mark Hugel say the city needs this task force.
“It’s good that we have a commission looking at the complexities of crime,” Jenkins said. “Crime isn’t what you see when the police department gets involved. There are many things that were missed well before it became an issue. So, obviously, I’m excited to see it being looked at from the comprehensive perspective that it deserves.”
Said Hugel: “We don’t have an integrated plan to pull all of the things together that are available to address the systemic issues that we have with crime in the city. And so the Portsmouth United has a plan coming together. There are elements of folks around the city who have their own plans, but we need to pull all of those ideas together.”
Some ideas to reduce crime include community engagement, network ambassadors, school intervention and parental education.
Task force chair Jaylin Drewry says they’re just getting started, but change is coming.
“The next steps will be continuing to have those discussions, but also making recommendations to city council, making recommendations to the city manager around policy and what those changes would be, but also making recommendations around what budget items should go to as well,” Drewry said.
The next taskforce meeting will be Jan. 6.
The Portsmouth Community R.E.S.E.T walk will take place Tuesday in the 900 Block of Crawford Parkway at 4 P.M.