High-Crime Areas in Norfolk Neighborhoods You Should avoid

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Norfolk Neighborhoods to Avoid — What Residents and Newcomers 

Should Actually Know

A public service guide. Sourced from court records, police 

reports, and Hampton Roads news. Updated quarterly.

Published by Norfolk Virginia Military Veteran Movers (MVMP)

Last Updated: May 2026  •  Next Update: August 2026

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📌 WHY THIS PAGE EXISTS

Most of what gets written about Norfolk crime is either a 

police press release or a click-bait list nobody bothered to 

verify. Real estate agents are legally restricted from 

discussing neighborhood safety. Most local businesses avoid 

the topic. So residents and newcomers end up making decisions 

about where to live based on rumors, Reddit threads, and the 

occasional alarming headline.

This page is the alternative. Specific neighborhoods. 

Specific cases. Sourced from the Norfolk Police Department, 

the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, the 

Virginian-Pilot, WAVY, WTKR, and 13News Now. Every claim 

traces back to one of those sources.

We update this page every three months.

📞 Norfolk Virginia Military Veteran Movers — 757-330-0008

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NORFOLK IN 2026 — THE NUMBERS

Norfolk recorded 26 homicides in 2025. The Norfolk Police 

Department reports this is the lowest annual total in 40 

years and a 30% drop from 2024. Commonwealth's Attorney 

Ramin Fatehi described it as "an absolutely historic year."

That is the good news.

Norfolk's overall crime rate is still 100% above the national 

average. Norfolk ranks 127th safest out of 133 Virginia cities 

according to FBI Uniform Crime Reports data. The city's crime 

rate is more than double Virginia Beach's and more than 

double Chesapeake's.

The 26 homicides in 2025 did not happen evenly across the 

city. They happened in specific neighborhoods, on specific 

blocks, sometimes on the same streets year after year. The 

rest of this page is about those neighborhoods and those 

streets.

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WHAT IS ON THIS PAGE

   ⬇️ Olde Huntersville

   ⬇️ Young Terrace

   ⬇️ Park Place

   ⬇️ Lindenwood

   ⬇️ Campostella

   ⬇️ Ocean View

   ⬇️ Norview

   ⬇️ Berkley

   ⬇️ How to Survive a Robbery

   ⬇️ Home Invasion Survival

   ⬇️ Carjacking Survival

   ⬇️ Why Norfolk Crime Concentrates Where It Does

   ⬇️ Safer Norfolk Neighborhoods

   ⬇️ Resources and Sources

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OLDE HUNTERSVILLE

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Olde Huntersville is a historic Norfolk neighborhood with 

2,214 residents according to US Census data. During 

segregation, it was one of the few Norfolk areas where Black 

families could own homes. It was a self-sustained community 

of business owners, educators, and political figures.

In the 1960s, many longtime residents left for the suburbs 

and the neighborhood declined. The Olde Huntersville 

Development Corporation, founded in 1980, has spent four 

decades working on revitalization — homeownership programs, 

parks, a Tidewater Community College satellite campus. The 

work continues.

The neighborhood has also been called out by name in Norfolk 

crime reporting for years. Olde Huntersville, according to 

local news sources, leads Norfolk in homicides linked to 

gang-related activity.

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THE CASES ON THE BOOKS

**February 19, 2023 — O'Keefe Street and B Avenue.** Anthony 

E. White, 50, was shot just before 9 p.m. He was taken to the 

hospital and died there. Police asked for tips. No public 

suspect. No arrest reported in available news coverage. 

(Source: 13News Now)

**May 29, 2022 — 700 block of B Avenue, 11:55 p.m.** Paul 

Robinson was shot and taken to Sentara Norfolk General. He 

died there. The night before, someone had been shot one block 

away on the same street. Five days after Robinson's killing, 

the Norfolk Police Fugitive Squad, the Norfolk Police Special 

Operations Team, and the U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force 

arrested Lamont Smallwood, 32. Charges: second-degree murder, 

use of a firearm. (Source: WAVY)

**March 15, 2022 — 800 block of Fremont Street, mid-afternoon.** 

Faizon J. Moore, 21, was shot just before 3:30 p.m. He was 

driven to the hospital, where he died. Police closed the 

block near Church Street. No public suspect at time of 

reporting. (Source: 13News Now)

**May 29, 2016 — Johnson Avenue.** Kenneth Britt, 41, was 

shot on a Sunday afternoon at 2:45 p.m. He was Norfolk's 19th 

homicide of that year. A neighbor named Latitia Williams told 

13News Now she heard the sirens and the shouting before she 

saw the tape. She said people were yelling "What happened, 

what happened, what happened." She also said she already knew 

before she got outside. Earlier that same month, the 

president of the Olde Huntersville civic league had publicly 

announced a plan to fight neighborhood crime. (Source: 

13News Now)

**August 3, 2021 — 1500 block of O'Keefe Street, just before 

midnight.** Two men shot. One expected to survive. One rushed 

to Sentara Norfolk General with life-threatening injuries. 

(Source: 13News Now)

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WHAT THE PATTERN TELLS YOU

The cases above cluster on a small number of streets — A 

Avenue, B Avenue, O'Keefe Street, Fremont Street, Johnson 

Avenue. All within a quarter-mile of each other. Most are 

evening or late-night shootings. Some cases close with 

arrests. Some never do.

The Olde Huntersville civic league has been organizing 

against this for years. Cleanups. Youth programs. Direct 

engagement with the Norfolk Police Department. The May 2016 

anti-crime plan that was in motion when Kenneth Britt was 

killed was one of many community responses. The headlines do 

not show that part.

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A NEIGHBORHOOD IN TRANSITION

Olde Huntersville is not only the cases above. According to 

demographic data, the median household income is $59,388. 

The median home value is $284,550. The Olde Huntersville 

Development Corporation has been building new homes, 

renovating older ones, and bringing in commercial development.

Local businesses include Peoples Pharmacy and Sweet Jam Café 

at Washington Avenue and Church Street, and Turner's Market 

on Dungee Street. The neighborhood has a community center 

with basketball courts. There is real life happening here.

The violence and the revitalization are happening on the 

same blocks. That is the honest picture.

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YOUNG TERRACE

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Young Terrace is a Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing 

Authority property in the St. Paul's area near downtown 

Norfolk. According to VirginiaNavigator, it has 746 units on 

36 acres. It was built in 1953 as part of Norfolk's Project 

One urban renewal — the country's first federally-funded slum 

clearance program.

Project One displaced thousands of Black residents from what 

had been a dense, redlined neighborhood and concentrated them 

into segregated public housing developments. Young Terrace, 

Calvert Square, and Tidewater Gardens were all built as part 

of that displacement. The housing policy decisions that 

shaped Young Terrace 70 years ago still shape the daily lives 

of the people who live there.

The property is now slated for a $1 billion redevelopment 

into mixed-income housing. First-phase demolition could begin 

as soon as fall 2027. (Sources: WAVY, WHRO, Encyclopedia 

Virginia)

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THE NOVEMBER 3, 2021 MASS SHOOTING

On the evening of November 3, 2021, around 6 p.m., five women 

were shot in the 800 block of Whitaker Lane in Young Terrace. 

Three died at the scene: Nicole Lovewine, 45, of Norfolk; 

Detra R. Brown, 42, of Suffolk; and Sarah E. Costine, 44, of 

Lithonia, Georgia.

The shooter was Ziontay Brian Ricardo Palmer, 19, of Virginia 

Beach. He was in a relationship with the 19-year-old woman 

who was shot first. She was five months pregnant at the time. 

Nicole Lovewine was her mother.

According to neighbors and police testimony, Palmer shot his 

girlfriend in the shoulder. As she ran for help, her mother 

and her mother's partner Detra Brown approached, not knowing 

what had happened. Palmer shot them. As more women tried to 

render aid, he shot them too.

Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone called it a "mass shooting" 

and demanded a national spotlight on the incident. 

"How many times do we have to do and say the same things 

over and over and over before we do something?" he asked at 

the time. (Source: 13News Now, WAVY, WTKR)

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THE SENTENCING

In February 2024, after a jury conviction in November 2023, 

Palmer was sentenced to four life sentences plus 43 years in 

prison. He is ineligible for parole. Norfolk Circuit Judge 

Robert Rigney called the case "by far the worst thing the 

court has ever seen." Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi 

called the sentence "the only sanction" for a crime that 

killed three and wounded two in broad daylight in front of 

children. (Source: 13News Now, WTKR)

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WHAT YOUNG TERRACE IS

Young Terrace is more than 70 years of housing policy 

decisions, three generations of residents, and a 

redevelopment that is finally starting. It is also a place 

where children play and parents work and the everyday work 

of living happens. The mass shooting is part of the story. 

So is the upcoming demolition. So is the fact that residents 

have been pushing for change at this property for decades.

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PARK PLACE

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Park Place is a Norfolk neighborhood north of downtown, near 

the Colley Avenue commercial corridor that connects to Ghent. 

The neighborhood has experienced both redevelopment and 

ongoing violent incidents.

In 2023, according to local reporting, a daylight shooting 

near the Colley Avenue shopping district left one person 

dead and several injured. The incident raised community 

concerns about safety in a corridor that had been part of 

the city's redevelopment narrative.

Park Place sits at the intersection of historic working-class 

housing and more recent commercial redevelopment. Violence 

in the neighborhood is real. So is the community organizing 

response, which has included business association meetings 

and neighborhood patrols on multiple streets.

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LINDENWOOD

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Lindenwood is a Norfolk neighborhood whose overall crime 

statistics may be lower than its neighbors, but where 

specific incidents have shaped the neighborhood's reputation 

for years.

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THE TRIPLE-C CONVENIENCE STORE CASE

In 2024, 84-year-old James Carter — owner of the Triple-C 

convenience store on Lindenwood Avenue — was fatally shot 

outside his store. The shooting reportedly stemmed from a 

disturbance involving multiple individuals.

Investigators initially identified Dennis Hisle as the 

shooter and secured warrants. A woman named Ms. Credle, who 

drove the brothers away from the scene, was charged as an 

accessory after the fact. As the investigation developed in 

late 2024, police identified Bruce Hisle as the actual 

shooter. Charges against Dennis Hisle were withdrawn. The 

Commonwealth's Attorney's Office secured indictments against 

Bruce Hisle from a grand jury.

Bruce Hisle's jury trial began on July 29, 2025. Witnesses 

and the surviving gunshot victim testified. The 10mm handgun 

used in the shooting was recovered from the brothers' van, 

along with matching ammunition. Forensic tests confirmed the 

gun fired the bullet recovered from Carter's body. 

(Source: Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office)

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THE 2022 HOME INVASION

According to news reporting cited on this page's prior 

version and corroborated through local news searches, a 

home invasion targeting an elderly couple occurred in 

Lindenwood in 2022. Specific street and case-outcome 

details require further verification before being detailed 

here. We are updating this section as we confirm additional 

case files.

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CAMPOSTELLA

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Campostella sits south of the Elizabeth River. It is home 

to Diggs Town, an aging Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing 

Authority property that is in early-stage redevelopment 

discussions alongside Young Terrace and Calvert Square. 

(Source: WHRO)

In March 2024, a fatal shooting on the 1700 block of 

Campostella Road took a young life in the daytime on a 

populated road. The 1700 block of Campostella Road appears 

regularly in Norfolk Police incident reports.

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OCEAN VIEW

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Ocean View is Norfolk's coast — beaches, restaurants, bars, 

bay-facing condominiums, and older residential streets 

running inland from the water.

According to local crime reporting, auto theft surged in 

Ocean View during 2024, particularly near beach parking 

areas. The neighborhood ranks among Norfolk's highest 

property-crime areas year over year.

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THE JUDY BOONE CASE — DECEMBER 31, 2025

On New Year's Eve 2025, prominent Norfolk real estate broker 

Judy Boone was shot three times inside her East Ocean View 

Avenue home around 11:55 p.m. Her family described it as a 

"botched burglary." Boone survived with a non-life-threatening 

wound. She was transported by Norfolk Fire and Rescue and 

entered recovery.

The Boone family is offering up to $25,000 for information 

leading to arrest or indictment. Norfolk Police have asked 

the public for video of suspicious activity in the East 

Ocean View Avenue area in connection with the shooting. 

Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi described it as a 

"priority case." The investigation is ongoing as of last 

reporting. (Source: WAVY)

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NORVIEW

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Norview is a Norfolk neighborhood that has been called out 

by name in local crime reporting as a drug-arrest 

concentration area. The pattern has persisted across multiple 

years according to Norfolk Police Department reporting.

The variation within Norview is larger than the variation 

between neighborhoods. Some Norview blocks function as 

stable residential streets. Others show concentrated 

incident patterns. Anyone researching a specific Norview 

address should consult the Norfolk Police Department crime 

mapping tool at norfolk.gov/310/CrimeMapping for 

incident-specific data over the past 90 days.

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BERKLEY

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Berkley sits south of downtown Norfolk, across the Berkley 

Bridge. According to local crime reporting, Berkley is a 

documented hotspot for drug-related arrests in Norfolk.

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THE TONY ROUNDTREE CASE — APRIL 21, 2026

At approximately 1:08 p.m. on April 21, 2026, Norfolk Police 

responded to the 500 block of Walker Avenue for a reported 

shooting. Tony A. Roundtree, 34, of Chesapeake was found 

suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced 

dead at the scene.

Two days later, on April 23, Norfolk Police arrested 

Montrail D. Washington, 28, in Virginia Beach. Washington 

was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm. 

He is being held in Norfolk City Jail without bond. 

(Source: Norfolk Police Department)

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HOW TO SURVIVE A ROBBERY

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The following guidance reflects standard recommendations from 

law enforcement and personal safety organizations.

STAY CALM. Robbers are usually nervous and operating on 

adrenaline. Sudden movements can trigger reactions they did 

not plan. Slow your breathing. Move deliberately.

COMPLY WITH DEMANDS. Hand over what is asked for. Wallet, 

phone, keys, jewelry. Most robberies end without injury when 

the victim complies. That is the most important fact in this 

section.

DO NOT RESIST. Resisting a robbery is how robberies become 

homicides. The robber has a weapon. You do not. Surrender 

the property.

AFTER. Get to safety. Call 911. Try to remember height, 

weight, clothing, direction of travel, vehicle if any. Most 

solved cases are solved because the victim remembered 

details and gave them to detectives within the first hour.

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HOME INVASION SURVIVAL

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Home invasions are different from burglaries. Burglaries 

target empty houses. Home invasions target houses with 

people inside.

HAVE A DEFENSIBLE SPACE. Identify in advance a room with a 

lock, a phone, and limited entry points. Know how to reach 

it from every part of your home.

MAKE NOISE. Yell. Set off alarms. Bang on walls. Home 

invaders rely on the home being silent and the family being 

isolated. Noise breaks the script.

COMPLY IF CONFRONTED. If you are face to face with armed 

invaders, comply with their demands. Your life is worth more 

than anything they can take.

AFTER. Call 911 once they leave. Do not chase. Wait for 

police. Preserve the scene for forensic evidence.

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CARJACKING SURVIVAL

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Carjackings happen at stops — red lights, gas pumps, parking 

lot transitions, your own driveway. The carjacker watches, 

waits for the moment your awareness drops, and approaches 

while you are stationary.

GIVE UP THE CAR. The vehicle is replaceable.

GET AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE. Move backward, not forward. Do 

not stand near the door. Do not try to retrieve belongings.

CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. The first 30 minutes after a 

carjacking are the highest-probability window for recovery.

PREVENTION. Keep doors locked while driving. Windows up at 

stops in unfamiliar areas. Never leave a car running 

unattended.

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WHY NORFOLK CRIME CONCENTRATES WHERE IT DOES

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Norfolk is not uniformly dangerous. It is a city with 

concentrated crime in specific neighborhoods inside a larger 

functional city. The pattern is structural and well 

documented.

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URBAN RENEWAL HISTORY

Norfolk was the first city in the United States to receive 

federal urban renewal funds for slum clearance. Between 1950 

and 1970, thousands of acres of land in central Norfolk were 

razed. Tens of thousands of residents — mostly Black — were 

displaced. Project One, the first such project, displaced 

Black residents from a redlined area and concentrated them 

into segregated public housing developments including Young 

Terrace, Calvert Square, and Tidewater Gardens. 

(Source: Encyclopedia Virginia)

These housing policy decisions still shape Norfolk's 

geography of concentrated poverty. Neighborhoods that 

experienced redlining followed by concentrated public 

housing investment have crime patterns rooted in those 

decisions decades later.

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POVERTY AND OPPORTUNITY

Norfolk's neighborhoods with the highest crime rates 

generally have the highest poverty rates. The correlation 

between concentrated poverty and elevated crime is one of 

the most consistent findings in criminology research. The 

Norfolk neighborhoods covered on this page are not where 

the city's largest employers — the Navy, the port, 

Sentara, EVMS, ODU, Norfolk State — concentrate their 

workforce.

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WHAT HAS BEEN WORKING

Norfolk's 2025 homicide drop to 26 — the lowest in 40 years 

— happened for documented reasons. The Norfolk Police 

Department's Real-Time Crime Center opened in 2024 and gave 

detectives real-time access to camera footage and incident 

mapping. The Flock surveillance system expanded. 

Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi credited "the very 

smart deployment of resources by Chief Talbot and the 

Norfolk Police Department."

Fatehi has also publicly noted that federal funding for 

criminal justice reform programs in Norfolk has been 

significantly reduced under the current federal 

administration. Whether the homicide reduction continues 

depends partly on whether resources stay in place. 

(Source: WAVY)

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SAFER NORFOLK NEIGHBORHOODS

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Most of Norfolk is not in the categories described on this 

page. Several neighborhoods consistently rank among the 

city's safest according to local reporting and crime data.

🌳 GHENT

Tree-lined residential streets. Historic homes. Active 

community watch programs. Restaurants and bars along Colley 

Avenue and Granby Street. Among Norfolk's most consistently 

safe neighborhoods.

🌳 LARCHMONT

Family-friendly residential neighborhood near Larchmont 

Elementary. Strong civic engagement. Low crime rates.

🌳 RIVERVIEW

Small neighborhood near the Norfolk Zoo. Tight-knit. 

Consistently low crime.

🌳 EAST BEACH

Newer upscale development at the eastern end of Ocean View. 

Active homeowner association. Waterfront views.

🌳 COLONIAL PLACE

Residential neighborhood with historic homes and active civic 

league. Stable crime profile.

🌳 WILLOUGHBY SPIT

Coastal community at Norfolk's northern tip. Established 

neighborhoods. Low crime concentration.

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HOW TO RESEARCH A SPECIFIC ADDRESS

The Norfolk Police Department's crime mapping tool allows 

public search by address, intersection, or landmark. Data 

covers the past 90 days.

🔗 Norfolk Crime Mapping: norfolk.gov/310/CrimeMapping

Block-level data is more useful than neighborhood-level 

statistics. Two blocks within the same neighborhood can 

have very different patterns.

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RESOURCES AND SOURCES

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📌 IF YOU ARE IN DANGER

Call 911 for any emergency.

For non-emergency Norfolk Police contact: 757-664-7000

Domestic violence — Norfolk Sexual Assault and Family 

Violence Center 24-hour line: 757-622-4300

Mental health crisis — 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 

dial 988

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ANONYMOUS TIPS

Norfolk Crime Line: 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887)

Online: p3tips.com

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SOURCES USED IN THIS GUIDE

   • Norfolk Police Department press releases and crime data

   • Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office filings

   • Encyclopedia Virginia (urban renewal history)

   • 13News Now (WVEC)

   • WAVY-TV

   • WTKR News 3

   • WHRO Public Media

   • Council on Criminal Justice mid-year and annual reports

   • FBI Uniform Crime Reports

   • US Census data

   • VirginiaNavigator (NRHA property data)

   • Norfolk City public records

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UPDATES

This guide is updated quarterly. New incidents get added. 

Case outcomes get updated. If you have information about a 

Norfolk case that should be included — or if you spot an 

error — contact us at 757-330-0008.

Next scheduled update: August 2026

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📌 ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

This page is published as a public service by Norfolk 

Virginia Military Veteran Movers (MVMP), a veteran-owned 

moving company serving all of Hampton Roads. We publish 

this information because Norfolk residents and people 

considering Norfolk deserve access to honest, sourced 

information about neighborhood safety.

If you are planning a move within or out of Norfolk, we are 

available at 757-330-0008.

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eCopyright © 2026 Norfolk Virginia Military Veteran Movers — 

Military Veterans Moving People (MVMP) — All Rights Reserved.