How the Birmingham Police Department is Addressing Violent Crime

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and interim Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett said in an interview with AL.com Tuesday their plan to reduce violent crime in the city, which reached a record level last year, is already working.

Woodfin says 42 of 82 recent recommendations of the recent Birmingham Crime Commission report are being implemented. Pickett has his own eight-point crime reduction strategy already in effect.

Pickett said that in the past month, he’s put special attention on targeting neighborhoods with enough police to deter criminals in high-crime areas.

“You’ll see us rolling and you may say it’s a different feel in this area now,” Pickett said Tuesday.

Birmingham ended 2024 with 152 homicides, the highest number of killings in the city ever, breaking the record of 148 set in 1933. The lowlight of a violent year was the Sept. 21 mass shooting at the Hush Lounge in Birmingham’s Five Points South entertainment district that killed four and left 17 injured.

Two immediate efforts to tackle crime and increase public safety involve police staffing and recruitment.

In the aftermath of the Hush Lounge shooting, Woodfin brought a plan to the Birmingham City Council. The council, anxious for answers, embraced it. On Oct. 8, the council approved Woodfin’s $15.8 million plan for recruiting and retaining police officers.

“Boots on the ground always works,” said Birmingham Police FOP President Deangelo Hall, who supported the plan.