Hampton outlines Hopeful Hampton violence‑prevention work, reports declines and expansion plans

At a council presentation, the Office of Youth and Young Adult Opportunities presented the Hopeful Hampton annual report and described a prevention‑intervention‑enforcement strategy that city leaders say has helped reduce shootings and expand services for people aged 14–24.

"We want to reduce fatal and nonfatal incidents by 50% or higher and to increase perceptions of safety among citizens by 85% or higher," the presenter said as part of the office’s five‑year goals. The presentation credited a combination of targeted outreach, violence interrupters, diversion programs and grants for recent declines. Commonwealth’s Attorney Bell and staff gave an overview of Operation Ceasefire and related programs, and Kiana/Keanna Young presented participation figures and screening data.

Bell corrected a data inversion flagged by council members, saying the earlier slide had been reversed: "There were 24 fatal shootings between that time frame and 46 non‑fatal shootings between that time frame," he said while adding that year‑to‑date counts in later slides show further reductions. Police staff reported updated year‑to‑date victimization numbers and a multi‑year average indicating fewer people impacted by gun violence this year compared with recent years.

Program highlights cited in the presentation included the JCAP (junior commonwealth attorney) and EKG (educating kids about gun violence) classroom screenings, youth diversion cohorts, and the CAVIAR counseling group for victims and witnesses aged roughly 12–25. Keanna Young said EKG screened over 1,000 Hampton City School students and more than 800 community respondents and reported that 78% of screened youth said they have a close friend who carries a firearm.

On prevention through environmental design, staff said an attorney‑general grant funded procurement of more than 80 lights for targeted areas; they clarified the lights have been purchased but are awaiting installation by Dominion, and that camera deployment locations are withheld for operational confidentiality. Handy said council allocates an annual $86,000 in mini‑grants and that larger community support appropriations distributed roughly $2.435 million to grassroots programs reaching 481 youth this cycle. She said staff expect a pending $4.6 million federal release that would fund neighborhood resource‑center staffing and phased openings through 2027.

Council members asked for verification of specific crime counts, and staff agreed to return verified numbers. Several council members praised the work and urged broader community support for mentorship and ongoing programming. Staff said they will continue to monitor outcomes and report back on before‑and‑after metrics for interventions such as enhanced lighting and community events.