Portsmouth police report declines in several crime metrics, seek immediate retention and recruitment actions

Portsmouth’s chief of police told the City Council that several violent‑crime and property‑crime measures are trending down, outlined new and expanded public‑safety programs and urged near‑term action on recruitment and retention incentives to prevent experienced officers from leaving.

Chief Jenkins said the city is “averaging about $867” in per‑incident or per‑capita crime cost measures discussed during the presentation and that the city’s recent homicide — the fourth of the year — produced an arrest over the weekend. Jenkins told council the department’s homicide clearance rate is about 70% and that nonfatal shootings fell from 128 to 89 in the most recent comparison cited in the presentation.

Why it matters: Jenkins and council members described staffing and retention as the immediate operational risk. Jenkins said the department aims for a 30% reduction in the officer shortfall through a combination of retention and recruitment steps and proposed a package of incentives, training and recruitment outreach; council members asked staff to prepare a retention/bonus proposal promptly rather than waiting for the FY‑26 budget cycle.

Crime trends and data tools: The chief presented multiple data points and initiatives the department has expanded: a real‑time crime center, gunshot detection, automatic license‑plate readers, mobile CCTV trailers and a business QR code program to speed reporting. Jenkins said property crime and overall crime were down roughly 17% year‑over‑year in the prior period and described a multi‑year decline in violent crime. He said year‑to‑date figures would show a substantial decline if the period ended now (the chief characterized a 66% year‑to‑date decline in homicides in the remarks as read to council).

Programs and pilot efforts: Jenkins described “Portsmouth United,” a cross‑sector public safety initiative with hospitals, clergy and nonprofits; a violence‑interruption pilot that placed trained community interrupters in problem neighborhoods; and plans for a public‑facing crime dashboard. The dashboard is scheduled to go live “no later than April 30,” Jenkins said, and will include violent‑crime and broader community safety data intended to aid neighborhoods, service providers and violence interrupters.

Recruitment and retention proposals: Jenkins outlined recruitment tactics (targeted outreach to recent military veterans, expanded cadet and explorer programs, signed bonuses, housing assistance, referral bonuses and two planned police academy classes of up to 25 recruits each). He said the city hopes to send two academy classes of roughly 25 each but that not all hires succeed in the academy pipeline and retention remains a critical variable. Jenkins said roughly “450 years of experience” across the department could be eligible to retire in the near term and that losing that experience would hurt investigations and institutional knowledge.

Council direction: Councilman Hugel and others urged immediate action and asked the city manager to deploy any available FY‑25 funds to accelerate retention payments rather than wait for the FY‑26 budget. Council signaled consensus for staff to prepare a retention bonus and recruitment package for formal consideration at the next council meeting; council asked for the cost, terms (for example, whether bonuses would be conditioned on remaining employed for a year) and implementation details.

Other clarifications and operational issues: Jenkins said the department is expanding mental‑health co‑response planning and seeks a regional legislative fix for the custody and detention burden when officers transport behavioral‑health patients to hospitals. He also said portable cameras and partnerships with private businesses — examples included Lowe’s and Walmart feeds cited during Q&A — have been helpful and that mobile cameras are deployed to incident hot spots.

What was directed and not decided: Council did not adopt a retention or bonus ordinance in the work session. Instead council asked the manager and the chief to prepare a resolution and supporting materials (costing, contract/procurement implications and proposed eligibility/terms) for formal action at a future meeting. Jenkins said the department will continue expanding the dashboard, violence interruption and other programs while staff returns cost estimates and proposed language for the retention package.