Wideman starts job as Hampton’s new police chief Monday

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Jimmie Wideman starts his new job as chief of police in Hampton on Monday after being officially sworn in last week.

Wideman succeeds Mark Talbot, who left this spring to become chief of police in Norfolk.

Wideman is from Hampton and went to Bethel High School. He was a volunteer with the Northampton Fire and Rescue Squad at 16 years old. After graduating high school, he attended the Tidewater Regional Fire Academy, and joined the Hampton Fire and Rescue Division as a medic firefighter in 1988.

Wideman was sworn in on Friday by the Honorable Michael A. Gaten, chief judge of the Hampton Circuit Court.

“We’ve chosen a difficult profession,” Wideman said. “The majority of the community supports us. They want to do their part to help us achieve our law enforcement mission. Never should we take that trust in authority for granted, or take our position for granted. There should be no tolerance for mediocrity, laziness or incompetence. Just as in our oath, on our honor we will never betray our integrity, our character, or the public trust.”

The city says that when Talbot was hired back in 2021, Wideman was considered the “next highest-ranked candidate.”

“Chief Wideman had been a very, very strong candidate at the time,” said City Manager Mary Bunting, who says the search committee came to a quick consensus on Wideman.

So when it came to time to pick the next chief, “everyone agreed: ‘Why repeat the process? Let’s go get Chief Wideman.'”

Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck called Wideman “an individual who seems to be right off the recruiting poster for public safety and public service.”