By Greg Garrison
al.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin revealed details of the police department staffing on Tuesday to correct what he said is inaccurate information about how many officers short the department has been.
“There’s a lot of numbers out there that are just false,” Woodfin told the Birmingham City Council.
The staffing of the Birmingham Police Department has long been an issue amid a wave of violent crime that threatened to break the city’s record of homicides set in 1933 even before a mass shooting in Five Points South left four people dead and 17 others injured.
Ideally, the city would have 851 sworn officers, 440 of whom would be available to work patrol, Woodfin said. Currently, there are 377 officers available to patrol, Woodfin said.
“We’re only short 63 patrol officers,” he said.
Birmingham City Council President Darryl O’Quinn has previously said is down nearly 300 officers. After the Five Points South shooting, State Rep. Juandalynn Givan said she believes the city may be as many as 400 officers.
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Deputy Chief Rod Mauldin on Tuesday told the council that on Saturday, 78 candidates participated in the BPD’s Physical Agility and Ability Screening, with 38 meeting the physical requirements.
“That’s more than we’ve had in the past four years,” Mauldin said.
At least 16 candidates are expected to take part in the next police academy that starts in November.
“This city cannot do what it does without us supporting our Birmingham officers,” Woodfin said.
“In order for the city to be the best version of itself, we need Birmingham police officers, not just new recruits.”
Woodfin said the plan he is proposing includes increasing retention pay and the number of take-home patrol cars for officers. “We need to be more aggressive,” Woodfin said.
He said his plans call for increasing the hiring bonus from $5,000 to $10,000 for new officers and offering relocation bonuses of $5,000 to help officers relocate to a residence in Birmingham.
Woodfin then called an emergency public safety meeting with the City Council for the afternoon to present his plan for recruiting and retaining police officer in the aftermath of recent violent crimes, including the mass shooting Sept. 21 in front of Hush Lounge.
Woodfin proposed a $15.8 million plan for recruiting and retaining officers for the Birmingham Police Department.
“These are necessary things we have to do,” Woodfin said.
The price tag might have some sticker shock, “But y’all asked me to do something,” Woodfin said. “We need to be overly aggressive in recruiting.”
The funding would come from the city’s general reserve fund, which had $290 million in it as of June 23, 2023. Woodfin asked the council to consider voting on the proposal on Oct. 8.
To attract and retain more officers, he proposed spending $4.5 million for a take-home vehicle program, with money going to purchase 75 patrol cars; 50 to initiate the program and 25 to sustain the current fleet.
He proposed increased signing bonuses for new recruits, bumping up from $5,000 currently to $10,000.
He also proposed a retention bonus of $10,000 a year to keep officers in the department.
The proposal includes $600,000 for media marketing and a recruitment campaign and spending $200,000 on recruiting consultants.
It calls for a new policy of eight hours a month of mental health observance leave, which would be taken like an extra day of vacation.
The proposal includes nearly $1.2 million for a part-time reserve officer program, and $561,600 for a police trainee program that allows for immediately hiring future police officers to begin academy preparation.
The plan calls for spending $100,000 to pay 20 out-of-state candidates per year relocation assistance to help them move to Birmingham.
It includes a $1,000 referral incentive for referring future police officers.
Council member Hunter Williams asked for specific numbers on how short the department is including non-patrol employees. Woodfin said that wasn’t available, but said what people are most concerned about is that the city be fully staffed with patrol officers.
“What we want to solve for is the priority,” Woodfin said.
Later, Woodfin appeared in studio and told WBRC-TV that there were 172 unfilled positions total. City spokesman Rick Journey said Woodfin informed council members that the priority is to hire 172 officers, not the 63 he mentioned in the meetings.
“This is the most challenging time we’ve ever experienced,” said Police Chief Scott Thurmond. “People are always calling 911. We have to be there to respond to those calls.”
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