Portsmouth to consider gun violence task force

Council to vote on forming agency after briefing on crime

The Portsmouth City Council will consider establishing a cross agency task force dedicated to gun violence reduction next week after hearing from the police chief in a specially called meeting about violent crime.

Portsmouth has had 29 homicides this year, compared to 24 in the same time period last year, said Police Chief Stephen Jenkins during a special work session Tuesday. Of those homicides, 27 were the result of firearms; one was classified as narcotics and one, not included in the presentation, was an officer-involved shooting, Jenkins said.

Fourteen homicides are active cases. Police have made arrests in 12 of the cases.

Portsmouth council members descended into debate during the meeting, calling for less talk and more action to address gun violence.

“Until we are willing to address the socioeconomic conditions in our city, all the talk becomes sounding brass and tinkling cymbals,” said council member Mark Whitaker, saying crime is just one piece of the puzzle and living conditions need to be improved to reduce violence.

Jenkins sparked the conversation with his presentation on crime and straight talk to council about the police department’s limitations in solving larger issues.

“We’re the only entity that is awake 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So that broken street light? The police department gets it. That mental (health) call? The police department gets it,” Jenkins said. “I need other folks to do their job. Just gonna tell you like that. Everyone has a part to play in this. Take your piece back. Let us be the police.”

Several members of council proposed a task force or commission that would bring together city services, citizens and other stakeholders to holistically address gun violence.

Council member Vernon Tillage, Jr., requested a point of order and asked council to add a vote on forming the commission to the Sept. 26 regular meeting agenda. Mayor Shannon Glover dismissed the point of order, but Whitaker called a vote to overrule the mayor’s decision, which passed 5-2.

Council then voted to add the agenda item to its next meeting, which passed unanimously. Next Tuesday, the council will consider the formation of a task force dedicated to gun violence reduction. In addition to gun-related homicides, police reported 87 non-fatal shootings this year. “

In an interview, Jenkins said addressing gun violence is his priority.

“We’re trying to find the individuals who are not only perpetrating the crime, we’re trying to prevent the next individuals who may have been victims from turning to suspects, retaliatory shootings, things of that nature,” Jenkins said.

Incidents of aggravated assault and commercial robbery are up, but other crimes such as rape, domestic assault, robbery and carjacking are down compared to last year’s numbers. Police have recorded 535 crimes total in Portsmouth so far, up from 525 at the same time last year.

Flock automatic license plate reading cameras, which use artificial intelligence to record vehicles’ movements, have been fully deployed within the last two to three months, Jenkins said. The city has set up more than 40 of these cameras, as well as Raven shot detectors. The shot detectors record sounds of potential gunfire and alert police to the location, while also activating nearby Flock cameras.

In addition to Flock cameras and the system Fusus merging the city’s nearly 400 traffic and surveillance cameras in the Real Time Crime Center, Jenkins said police will also deploy seven “lightweight surveillance trailers,” mobile security cameras attached to a solar panel and trailer, to help with crowd control and monitor illegal dumping.

The police department has 98 open positions, 63 of which are officer positions. Jenkins said the goal is to send 20 police recruits to a training academy by January 2024, and encouraged everyone in the meeting to help with the recruitment effort.

Police also distributed steering wheel locks to car owners with Hyundai model years 2015 to 2021 and Kia model years 2011 to 2021. These vehicles are particularly vulnerable to theft due to a security flaw.