Crime in Norfolk (Newport News, Portsmouth, Forest: school, living, restaurants)

[sleeptodream138]

I didn't read all the replies so I apologize if this has been said already.

Crime exists in every community in the entire country (if not the world). It is less prominent in some places and more prominent in others but it is UNAVOIDABLE. I have lived in Hampton Roads my entire life so far and have never had a severe run-in with anybody. Have I had a few bizarre situations? Yes. Violence? No. But that is MY experience. Have people encountered violent crime here? Yes. Does everyone? No.

HR is more safe than other places but it is not perfect. Don't let this whole crime thing scare you. You either live your life "safe" indoors or get out and take chances. People like to exaggerate crime on all the boards on this site. You have to do realistic research and visit the places to see firsthand if they are in your comfort zone.

[tvpirate05]

Originally Posted by sleeptodream138

I didn't read all the replies so I apologize if this has been said already.

Crime exists in every community in the entire country (if not the world). It is less prominent in some places and more prominent in others but it is UNAVOIDABLE. I have lived in Hampton Roads my entire life so far and have never had a severe run-in with anybody. Have I had a few bizarre situations? Yes. Violence? No. But that is MY experience. Have people encountered violent crime here? Yes. Does everyone? No.

HR is more safe than other places but it is not perfect. Don't let this whole crime thing scare you. You either live your life "safe" indoors or get out and take chances. People like to exaggerate crime on all the boards on this site. You have to do realistic research and visit the places to see firsthand if they are in your comfort zone.

Exactly! And I wish people would look at it from the standpoint of the region as a whole (almost 2 million people) has a relatively low crime rate, compared to metros of a similar size, i.e. New Orleans, Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, and so forth. I'm talking the city proper and outlying suburbs.

Also, you really wanna complain about Norfolk's crime, it's a lot lower than what it was 15 years ago.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by tvpirate05

Exactly! And I wish people would look at it from the standpoint of the region as a whole (almost 2 million people) has a relatively low crime rate, compared to metros of a similar size, i.e. New Orleans, Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, and so forth. I'm talking the city proper and outlying suburbs.

Also, you really wanna complain about Norfolk's crime, it's a lot lower than what it was 15 years ago.

Anyone who complains about crime in Hampton Roads or Norfolk specifically should drive up and spend the weekend in DC. Watch the news, especially on Sat and Sun morning about all the shootings and robberies, go all around the city and its MD (and some VA) surburbs. You may never complain about crime in HR again. I lived in the DC area 6 years and spent 14 in HR, HR seems tame compared to DC.

[noil_noil]

Hi, I'm planning to move to Norfolk soon and need an apartment for wife, toddler and myself. What can you tell about the area around E Ocean View Av? Is it worth to look for housing as far as Suffolk and Chesapeake, I want a safe place but cannot afford more than 1K at this point.

Also, is Portsmouth that bad in regards to crime? We found a really nice place, but after reading about the crime level we feel it should be avoided at all costs.

[sbullet]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

Anyone who complains about crime in Hampton Roads or Norfolk specifically should drive up and spend the weekend in DC. Watch the news, especially on Sat and Sun morning about all the shootings and robberies, go all around the city and its MD (and some VA) surburbs. You may never complain about crime in HR again. I lived in the DC area 6 years and spent 14 in HR, HR seems tame compared to DC.

How is that a fair comparison? The DC metropolitan area is almost twice as large as HR.

Growing up in the DC area for 21 years, and living in HR for the past few years, I would say the DC area as a whole is way safer. Your always just a block or two away from the ghetto no matter where you are in HR. If your in Hampton, NN, or most of Norfolk, shootings happen way too close for comfort. Sure DC itself is kind of rough, but the nicer SW corner of DC is a fairly large community, and the rest of the DC area tends to be economically upper level suburbs.

[D train outta nowhere]

If I lived anywhere near SE/SW DC, I'd have bars on the windows, barbed wire around the yard, sandbags around the walls, and a 50 cal parked right facing the front door. But - Norfolk has a few places like this off Granby, it's a kind of netherworld - I want to say this is near South Brambleton and Campostella, we'll say SW Norfolk. I'm rolling up the windows, punching up GPS, and squealing tires out of there. I'd still rather live here than DC though. DC looks like something out of Fallout 3 or Mad Max.

[tvpirate05]

Originally Posted by sbullet

Your always just a block or two away from the ghetto no matter where you are in HR. If your in Hampton, NN, or most of Norfolk, shootings happen way too close for comfort.

I've lived in Greenbrier for over 12 years, and wouldn't consider any square inch of this community "the ghetto". There are some very nice, suburban areas of HR that are more or less quiet (Denbigh/Menchville in NN, Kempsville in VB). Yes, there are some ghettos, and there are a couple of nice neighborhoods adjacent to the hood (Larchmont and Ghent being close to Park Place, for example), but not every single portion of the area is stacked like that.

[Mr Williamsburg]

I get asked this question a lot from people who are thinking of moving to Hampton Roads or Williamsburg VA. The best source I know is the UCR Crime report prepared by the VA State Police allows a comparison of crime statistics throughout the state of VA.

It’s interesting to note that some of the smaller towns in VA have some of the highest crime rates. It’s also comforting to see the low rates of both James City County and Williamsburg where we reside and work.

Here are some highlights from areas around the state.


Crime Incident Rates per 100k population in various areas of Virginia 2008 ( Most recent)


Crime incidents per 100k

Alexandria/ 5107

Charlottesville/ 10805

Chesapeake / 6723

Chesterfield / 5747

Danville/ 13640

Emporia /16061

Fairfax / 4037

Gloucester / 3373

Hampton /7571

Hanover / 3032

Henrico / 6273

Hopewell/ 11378

Isle of Wight /4735

James City County /3979

Lynchburg /10024

Newport News/ 10698

New Kent/ 3675

Norfolk /10099

Mathews /2144

Petersburg /18459

Poquoson /4902

Portsmouth /12650

Richmond City /11211

Roanoke /14849

Smithfield /8802

Suffolk /7326

Va Beach/6776

Williamsburg City /3893

York County /4579

Statistics are Compiled By Uniform Crime Reporting Section,
Department of Virginia State Police

NOTE :While the figures reported in this publication are the most accurate available, it must be remembered that they represent a “snapshot” of incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies as well as follow UCR definitions. As such, it is possible that the number and categorization of offenses may differ when comparing these data with those from individual reporting agencies. If there are concerns with these differences, it is suggested that you contact the agency directly.

You can explore the 2008 UCR crime report for Virginia here

　
　

[D train outta nowhere]

Mr. W.,

I scanned the report. I am no statistical guru, and I need amplifying info on what this crime rate data actually means.

Norfolk has 235K people, which I had to look up on my own. The "crime rate" cited shows 10K. Is this to say there is a 1:23 chance of some kind of crime (violent, non-violent, etc.) happening to me while living in Norfolk? (235K/10K)

[Mr Williamsburg]

This is simply a report of how many crime incidents are reported per 100k population. Norfolk VA reported 10099 incidents for every 100k people or approx 10%. James City County reported 3979 incidents per 100k people well over half the incident rate per person.
Its easier to compare within regions/ areas when done this way.

Be aware that this is total incidents. It could be 10,099 incidents of graffiti reported. So its not exactly apples to apples comparison. At least it gives you a general feel ...

The report is 134 pages long and goes into great detail about crime stats in the state. I am no crime analyst by any means. Read it and make your own conclusions.