Portsmouth police chief reports spikes in burglaries and shoplifting as department expands drones, LPRs

Police Chief Jenkins told the Portsmouth City Council at its July 14 work session that the city is seeing mixed crime trends: an increase in robberies, burglaries and shoplifting but declines in some assault categories.

“Robberies to individuals and businesses are up about 22%,” Jenkins said, and burglary roughly “almost a 50% increase.” He added that motor‑vehicle thefts are up about 34% and shoplifting has risen “about 82%.” Jenkins said aggravated assaults declined, dropping from 139 incidents to 108 in the quarter, and that year‑to‑date homicide counts are equal to last year. “Every life that we have that is lost is one too many,” he said.

Jenkins identified local hotspots — notably the 1100 block of London Boulevard and parts of Churchland — and described cross‑jurisdictional work and partnerships with hotels that provide camera access. He said that data from calls for service and heat maps guide deployments: ‘‘Crime moves to where the opportunity still remains,’’ he said.

The chief outlined recent technology acquisitions intended to improve response and investigative capacity: expanded gunshot‑detection coverage, additional license‑plate readers (LPRs), 12 mobile camera trailers for hot spots and a drone described as a ‘‘first‑responder’’ that can be launched to provide overwatch. Jenkins said the drone system and LPRs were used in a recent theft case to track a vehicle from an initial report until officers could make an enforcement stop.

Jenkins acknowledged privacy concerns raised during the presentation and called the issue ‘‘the big brother conversation.’’ He described legal constraints on surveillance and said drone deployments would be incident‑driven (for example, sent to a reported shooting or a vehicle crash) rather than used for random neighborhood surveillance.

On staffing, Jenkins described a multi‑step hiring pipeline — written exam, agility test, background checks, medical and psychological screens, polygraph and civil‑service review — and said many applicants do not clear all stages. He warned that new Department of Criminal Justice Services standards coming January 2027 will add mandated fitness hours and an agility standard (an agility test time referenced in the presentation was one minute, 36 seconds), which he said will make recruitment more difficult. The department reported some success attracting lateral hires and filling civilian real‑time‑crime positions, but Jenkins said hiring and retention remain a core challenge.

Council members pressed Jenkins about whether recent legislative changes eased staffing burdens; Jenkins said most of the department’s requested legislative relief did not materialize. Vice Mayor Moody and others urged staff to pursue a charter change to remove the Civil Service Commission’s hiring step; City Attorney Derek Challenger said that change would require a charter amendment through the General Assembly.

What happens next: council indicated consensus to ask the manager and the legislative committee to include a request on the legislative agenda regarding the civil‑service hiring step. The police department said it will continue to refine deployments and expand technology use while pursuing recruitment and retention strategies.

Note on vendors: during the presentation the vendor handling gunshot detection and some LPR/DFR capabilities was named in the transcript as “FLOP” (presentation transcript spelling); that name may be transcribed incorrectly and should be confirmed with the city.