Norfolk Police Department


The Norfolk Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency servicing 242,803 people within of jurisdiction within Norfolk, Virginia.

Homeland Security Division

The Homeland Security Division, comprising the Harbor Patrol Unit, Special Operations Team, and Bomb Squad, serves the department and citizens by maintaining a state of preparedness for emergency response to critical incidents, terrorism and other security threats.

Personnel Division

The Personnel Division is responsible for maintaining departmental personnel records, coordinating the department’s disability management program, overseeing police recruitment processes, and coordinating the Master Police Officer Program.
The Strategic Management Division formulates, evaluates, and monitors the policies, and procedures, that support the department in achieving its vision and mission. They are also responsible for managing the department’s directives system consisting of general orders.

Central Records Division

The Central Records Division is responsible for a repository for criminal histories, correspondence, fingerprints, photographs, incident and accident reports, and all warrants.
Norfolk is divided into 3 patrol divisions, each consisting of three sectors.

Sworn personnel

Non-sworn personnel

Misconduct

As a matter of policy, the Department does not tell the public what if any disciplinary actions it takes against is officers.
In early 2011, Detective Robert Glenn Ford was sentenced to more than twelve years in prison for taking bribes from criminals. Ford was the detective who questioned the Norfolk 4 who were unjustly imprisoned for twenty years for rape and murder. The men's lawyers said they had been intimidated into confessing by the police.
In January 2014, a woman was mauled by a Norfolk police dog, requiring forty-three stitches. The police chief admitted his officers used excessive force and the city settled for almost $200,000. Four policemen left the department as a result of this attack but were never charged.
On 7 May 2016, Officer Justin Benson was driving at more than seventy miles per hour on city streets when he struck a car, killing its driver. The officer was violating the Department's policy on the maximum speed to be used when responding to a call. He was not charged.
In July 2016, the City agreed to pay one and a half million dollars to settle a lawsuit involving a drunk driver who was shot by a policeman. The City did not admit any legal responsibility in the settlement.

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Norfolk Police Department, 39 officers have died in the line of duty.
OfficerDate of DeathDetails
Officer John McNerney
Thursday, September 22, 1904
Gunfire
Officer Rufus A. Hobbs
Friday, July 23, 1909
Animal Related
Officer Stonewall J. Taylor
Tuesday, November 13, 1917
Struck by vehicle
Officer Ashville T. Williamson
Thursday, October 31, 1918
Gunfire
Officer Harvey J. Babb
Tuesday, October 21, 1919
Motorcycle accident
Officer Harry J. Charlton
Tuesday, August 24, 1920
Assault
Officer William L. Sherrod
Thursday, September 9, 1920
Struck by streetcar
Officer Edward J. Vellines
Wednesday, November 5, 1924
Gunfire
Officer Daniel A. Weisbrod
Thursday, December 6, 1928
Gunfire
Officer Joseph E. Johnson
Monday, August 11, 1930
Motorcycle accident
Officer Allen E. Lindsay
Tuesday, August 21, 1934
Motorcycle accident
Sergeant Benjamin H. Butts
Tuesday, January 1, 1935
Gunfire
Officer Jefferson R. Holland
Tuesday, August 17, 1937
Motorcycle accident
Officer John Franklin Harmann
Tuesday, March 29, 1938
Gunfire
Officer Arthur Herbert Barrett
Saturday, April 9, 1938
Heart Attack
Officer Michael Aloisio
Tuesday, May 23, 1939
Motorcycle Accident
Officer Frank A. Davis
Tuesday, July 13, 1943
Gunfire
Officer Robert F. Dunn
Tuesday, July 13, 1943
Gunfire
Chief of Police John Fulton Woods
Friday, October 4, 1946
Automobile Accident
Detective George W. Perkins
Thursday, December 12, 1946
Automobile Accident
Officer Daniel E. Hobbs
Sunday, April 27, 1952
Automobile Accident
Officer Carlton J. Byrd
Monday, August 25, 1952
Motorcycle accident
Officer William Warren Lassiter
Thursday, May 1, 1958
Struck by vehicle
Officer Louis E. Spry
Saturday, July 26, 1958
Vehicle Pursuit
Officer Robert C. Hill
Wednesday, December 9, 1959
Automobile accident
Officer Benjamin E. Myrick
Saturday, February 13, 1960
Motorcycle accident
Detective Robert Courtland Wash
Tuesday, May 16, 1961
Gunfire
Officer William Peterson
Saturday, March 17, 1962
Struck by vehicle
Sergeant Robert J. Bouchard
Friday, September 3, 1971
Gunfire
Officer Lewis Willard Hurst Jr.
Wednesday, May 24, 1972
Gunfire
Officer Stephen Samuel Douros
Saturday, June 21, 1980
Vehicular assault
Officer John C. Thomas III
Wednesday, April 4, 1984
Motorcycle accident
Officer Douglas Eric Drye
Saturday, April 14, 1984
Gunfire
Police Officer William Henry Burtt
Tuesday, February 3, 1998
Gunfire
Police Officer James B. Gilbert
Friday, September 28, 2001
Gunfire
Police Officer Sheila Herring
Thursday, January 16, 2003
Gunfire
Police Officer Stanley Cornell Reaves
Friday, October 28, 2005
Gunfire
Police Officer Seneca Bailey Darden
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Gunfire
Police Officer Brian Jones
Friday, May 30, 2014
Gunfire