Emphasize cooperation

Norfolk, Chesapeake to begin searches to replace departing police chiefs

To ensure public safety across Hampton Roads, our communities must find more ways to work cooperatively to reduce desperation, expand economic opportunity, bolster mental health services and provide targeted outreach to at-risk youth.

The region also needs law enforcement agencies that can capably and seamlessly work with one another. Criminals don’t respect city boundaries in Hampton Roads and police must effectively work across jurisdictions to bring them to justice.

That should be a guiding principle as the cities of Norfolk and Chesapeake begin the careful process of selecting new chiefs to lead their cities’ police department. Because to make the sort of progress needed in the fight against violent crime, we’ll need all hands on deck and everyone pulling in the same direction.

Last week, Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone abruptly announced his intention to retire, effective April 29. He joined NPD in 1989 and progressed through the ranks before his selection of chief in 2016.

In Boone, Norfolk had a thoughtful, determined and seasoned professional leading that city’s law enforcement.

Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander was among those who spoke supportively last week of Boone’s time as chief and his outreach efforts to build bridges of trust between law enforcement and Norfolk residents. He often cited his upbringing in inner-city New Brunswick, New Jersey, as reason for his emphasis on engagement with youth.

That experience served the city well in 2020, when the chief met and even walked with marchers protesting for racial justice, demonstrating sensitivity for their concerns. While numerous other cities saw clashes between protesters and police, Norfolk did not.

A few days earlier, Chesapeake City Manager Chris Price announced in a March 31 email to city staff that Police Chief Kelvin Wright will retire this summer, effective Aug. 1.

Like Boone, Wright rose steadily through the ranks of that city’s department, from joining CPD in 1982 to his elevation as chief in 2008. A native of Portsmouth, Wright brought an intimate familiarity with the area to his work and, like Boone, he made youth outreach a focal point of his administration.

As anyone from either city will tell you, Norfolk and Chesapeake are two distinct communities with unique needs and different expectations for law enforcement. But everyone in Hampton Roads knows crime isn’t confined to one city. Cooperation between law enforcement agencies improves public safety for all.

That’s especially true now, as an upswing in violent crime has communities across the region looking for solutions to stop the bloodshed.

Many of these crimes cross jurisdictions — a crime may take place in Norfolk, with victims from Portsmouth and perpetrators from Virginia Beach — so it’s essential that law enforcement agencies, while beholden to the communities they serve, can work easily with their colleagues elsewhere.

Similarly, for the sort of broad-reaching, multi-year programs and strategies needed to fight violent crime, there must be an active partnership among law enforcement agencies throughout the region. Those take time to produce results and, critically, require buy-in from more than officers to work.

So as Norfolk and Chesapeake begin the process of replacing these important, influential and long-serving leaders, officials conduct those searches in a way that emphasizes transparency and citizen engagement. They should make sure to know what citizens want from a chief and utilize that feedback to set clear goals and expectations for law enforcement.

But they should also consider how potential replacements fit into the landscape here and gauge candidates’ ability to be local leaders, yes, but also regional champions for public safety.

There’s no sugar coating that these are big losses for Norfolk, Chesapeake and the region. Boone and Wright have decades of experience and proven professionalism that will be impossible to replace, and their departures come at a difficult time.

But this is also an opportunity to hire candidates with new ideas, to strengthen the bonds of trust with residents and to knit the region closer together by finding officials who can lead cooperatively.