Hopewell’s acting police chief talks about cutting down on crime

HOPEWELL, Va. (WWBT) -Hopewell’s new acting police chief Gregory Taylor is wrapping up his first week on the job.

He was sworn in earlier this week and was named the new role after former chief A.J. Starke retired at the beginning of the month.

Acting Chief Taylor is coming out of retirement to serve as the city’s acting police chief. He previously worked for the Hopewell Police Department for 37 years and was Commander of all divisions.

This will now be his second time serving as interim chief. He was also appointed to the role back in 2018.

“They asked me, was I interested in coming back and serving as interim chief. And after giving it some thought and discussing it with my family, I decided to come back to support Hopewell,” Acting Cheif Taylor said.

He said he’s ready to get to work to control the city’s crime spike.

Last year, Hopewell had nine homicides, and so far this year, there have been four homicides. As he works to prevent more deadly violence, Chief Taylor will also try to solve at least half a dozen open homicide cases in the city, including that of 8-year-old P’Aris Moore, who was killed at the end of 2022 in a drive-by shooting.

“I’m sitting down with my investigators to review these cases so I can have a better understanding of the cases and then rest assured that we are currently still investigating these cases and that the families have not been forgotten,” he said.

Acting Chief Taylor says he plans to be in this role for at least six months while the city searches for a permanent chief.

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