birminghamal.gov
More than half of the recommendations presented by the Birmingham Crime Commission are in planning and development, near launch or in progress, Mayor Randall Woodfin shared this week in an update to the Birmingham City Council.
The commission released its report on January 6, 2025. Woodfin has committed to provide status updates during the process of implementation. Of 82 recommendations made by the commission, 23 are in the planning and development phase. Another 23 are in pre-launch or in progress.
“Overall, I am pleased with the cadence we have established to take steps to put these recommendations into practice. And we remain committed to our partnerships with Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway, District Attorney Carr, and our federal partners in Birmingham,” Mayor Woodfin said. “I want to acknowledge the support and partnership of the Birmingham City Council as we take more steps to enhance public safety and attack gun violence.”
During the update to the council, Mayor Woodfin highlighted several actions underway:
- Up to 90 candidates for the Birmingham Police Department have gone through an initial screening process for the March academy class. Fifty to 70 of these candidates are currently being processed. Those who complete the screening phase will join the March class.
- The pre-launch phase of BPD’s reserve officer program is planned for March.
- The Community Violence Intervention recommendation includes several specific actions that are in the pre-launch stage and should be active in March. This includes expanding hospital-linked violence intervention from acute care to the emergency department. This also includes street outreach teams tasked with targeting at-risk individuals to provide opportunities to disrupt the cycle of violence.
- Multiple departments including BPD, the Office of Community Safety Initiatives, Public Works, and Planning, Engineering, and Permits are engaged in a focus on community hotspots. This is not just policing but a focus on blight removal and code enforcement. In January, city contractors demolished and removed 14 structures. Public Works demolished and removed 4 additional structures.
- The commission provided several recommendations related to BPD’s collaboration with probation and parole officers. A meeting with the pardons and parole command staff is planned for the coming days.
A full list of recommendations and progress notes, can be seen here.
Woodfin formed the independent commission in October 2024 to utilize the expertise of residents and leaders from business, community, criminal justice, healthcare, and non-profit sectors to identify strategies to address the city’s homicide rate.
Among the commission’s efforts, members researched policies established in other cities to determine best practices. The Commission’s report is the most recent step in a comprehensive effort by Woodfin to combat gun violence in the city. Woodfin and the Birmingham City Council approved a $16 million recruitment and retention program in October to increase the number of officers within the police department.
Woodfin has also advocated on the state and federal level to expand the crackdown on devices such as the “Glock switch,” which converts conventional semi-automatic handguns to function as a machine gun.
The Woodfin administration has cultivated increased collaboration between the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and federal law enforcement partners. In December, the Birmingham City Council approved $2 million to support the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety Initiatives strategy which aligns with recommendations published in the Birmingham Crime Commission report.
To read the commission’s report, click here.
