THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Police blame the city's drug subculture for giving Portsmouth one of the nation's highest homicide rates and for making those killings more difficult to solve.
So difficult, in fact, that Portsmouth's clearance rate of about 40 percent was the lowest in Hampton Roads, with nine of the city's 23 homicides solved. That compares with clearance rates of 100 percent in Newport News and 92 percent in Norfolk, cities that have strong cultural similarities with Portsmouth.
The clearance rate reflects how many homicides are solved during a calendar year. It does not indicate how many of those people arrested eventually are convicted.
Portsmouth police point to mean streets dominated by the city's drug subculture. Detectives must go there to conduct painstaking searches for evidence and witnesses. Both are difficult - sometimes impossible - to find, police say.
``What is holding us up is witnesses who won't testify,'' said Lt. Christopher E. Connally. ``There are a number of cases where the only reason we don't make an arrest is that witnesses are not willing to testify.''
A code of silence, not unlike that found in the organized crime worlds of the Mafia and the Colombian cocaine cartel, is followed by those engaged in the drug business in Portsmouth, according to police. This is especially frustrating, Connally said, because ``in almost every homicide, we know who did it.''
The poor clearance rate is only the latest bad news about violent crime in Portsmouth. The city had the highest violent crime rate in the region in 1993.
In December, it was reported that the city had the nation's 24th highest homicide rate for 1993, with 31.1 slayings for every 100,000 residents.
No other Hampton Roads city ranked in the highest 25, but Richmond had the 6th highest rate, 54.5 killings for every 100,000 residents.
Richmond also had a relatively low clearance rate, according to the Richmond Police Department. The city solved slightly more than 50 percent of its 161 homicides last year.
Portsmouth Police Chief Dennis A. Mook has said that most murders in Portsmouth are drug-related and that people are safe so long as they are not engaged in illegal activities.
There are some indications that a manpower problem on the city's force, which has five homicide detectives, may be a contributing factor to the crime picture.
The city has the highest number of violent felonies per police officer in South Hampton Roads - 6.5 in 1993. And most of the city's police force has sued the city for overtime pay.
Mook has pledged to increase the number of policemen in the city, and he already has arranged to add 29 officers to the 220 currently budgeted for the force.
Connally said part of the reason for Portsmouth's low clearance rate is that the city's commonwealth's attorney's office will not prosecute cases that it does not think will result in convictions.
``. . . We owe it to the victims and to their families not to clear a case until we know we can get a conviction,'' the detective said.
Will H. Jamerson, chief assistant commonwealth's attorney in Portsmouth, said his office is careful about pursuing murder cases. He said he did not know how the city's conviction rates compared to others in the region.
The careful approach, he said, is a necessary precaution.
``If you are charging someone with murder, that is a pretty serious thing,'' explained Jamerson.
There is one piece of good news for the city: No homicides were reported in January. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Portsmouth Police Chief Dennis A. Mook has said that most murders in
Portsmouth are drug-related, and that people are safe as long as
they are not engaged in illegal activities.
Graphic
HIGH FELONY RATE
Portsmouth has the highest number of violent felonies per police
officer in South Hampton Roads - 6.5 in 1993.
Most of the city's police force has sued the city for overtime
pay.
KEYWORDS: CRIME PORTSMOUTH MURDER STATISTICS by CNB