Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said the four key priorities of his administration are fighting gun violence, improving community engagement, employee wellness and recruitment and retention of officers. “We have to develop trust,’’ he said.
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond took the helm of Alabama’s largest police force at an unenviable time.
“He has the experience, he has the temperament, he certainly has the leadership skills,’’ said Allen Treadaway, a state representative and former assistant chief. “I think he comes in at a time where that is needed.” “That was his dream job,’’ Epstein said. “If somebody were to ever be destined for something, that was it. There is nothing else he wanted other than to be in law enforcement.”
Thurmond was made captain of the West Precinct in 2019, launching a special task force focused on taking guns off the streets and. During his time there, the West Precinct saw a 25 percent reduction in crime.After Thurmond was appointed chief, Epstein said he was humbled by his selection. “We have to develop trust,’’ he said. “If the community doesn’t trust us, we’re not going to be very effective.”
Birmingham police officials do not include justifiable homicides in their official tally because the FBI doesn’t require they do so for statistical reviews.In all of Jefferson County, there have been 161 homicides including the 120 in Birmingham.If the trend continues, Birmingham is on pace to break the highest number in recent memory which was 141 in 1991. The city’s lowest homicide tally over the past several decades was 57 in 2011.
“Look at the music kids listen to today. Think about the music of the 70s and 80s and maybe even the early 90s,’’ he said. “They talked about girlfriends and love. It wasn’t beating and shooting and the police.” Thurmond said the reality of crime in the city is better than the perception. While there have been multiple “innocent” victims killed in the city this year – including some teens who were caught in crossfire – the chief said that’s the exception, not the norm.
Treadaway said how Thurmond’s job performance is judged should be based on the resources he is given. “So basically, in order for Chief Thurmond to be effective, he must be empowered to effectively fight crime and not the public relations of crime,’’ she said. Officer Lawrence Billups, Chairman of the FOP Board of Trustees, said the department is woefully understaffed and still losing officers. He said he hopes the department is coming up with a plan to recruit more officers.Treadaway said officer morale was low when Thurmond took over, but he looks for that to improve under Thurmond.
“They’re in the range of 200 officers down than they had just a few years ago. The problem with that is every month, or every quarter, there’s more officers lost than they’re able to recruit and train and put on the street,’’ he said. “When your calls for service are 45,000 to 50,000 a month and your staffing levels have dropped dramatically but your calls for service and coverage area haven’t dropped,’’ he said, “you just can’t respond in the time you need to respond in order to address the concerns of the citizens.”
“They only work 14 days a month, but it puts more officers on the streets, so it helps with officer safety, and it gives us a better response to the community.” “He’s not a political person. He’s not from outside the department. But he has risen the ranks through hard work and has served in almost every sector of the police department which I think is very important because he understands the workings of every single section of the department, and he also understands what the shortcomings are.”
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