Interim Birmingham Chief Promoted to Lead City’s Police Department

Under interim Chief Michael Pickett's leadership, the city has seen an almost 50 percent decrease in homicides in the first quarter of 2025, and a homicide clearance rate well above the national average.

April 2, 2025

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin today named Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett as the Alabama city’s official chief of police.

Pickett, 40, took over as the interim chief in December following the retirement of Chief Scott Thurmond.

Under his leadership, the city has seen an almost 50 percent decrease in homicides in the first quarter of 2025, and a homicide clearance rate well above the national average, AL.com reports.

“Leadership matters,” Woodfin said. “Chief Pickett leads from the front. Not from behind a desk.”

“I want to thank Mayor Woodfin for his confidence in me and support for the Birmingham Police Department,” Pickett said.

Pickett joined the Birmingham Police Department in 2004.

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