Birmingham Council Public Safety Committee Member J.T. Moore Arrested for DUI After Passing Out in City Vehicle

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted and Published on November 4, 2024

An Editorial Opinion

Public safety in Birmingham, Alabama is virtually non-existent.  By objective standards, it is a clown show.

In addition to being severely understaffed, the Birmingham police department’s public safety programs and effectiveness are reviewed each year by the city council’s Public Safety Committee.  Councilor  J.T. Moore is a member of this committee.

Moore was arrested early Sunday morning after Saraland, Alabama police officers found him passed out behind the wheel of a city-owned vehicle on the side of I-65 in South Alabama. When officers open the door to the vehicle, they immediately smelled the strong odor of alcohol. 

Moore was arrested for DUI and taken to the Saraland Police Department. There, he was given a breathalyzer test and a field sobriety test. Moore failed both. He was "commode-hugging drunk."

The city’s vehicle was towed from the scene and impounded.

The city has not explained why an inebriated Moore had access to a city vehicle for a Saturday night drinking binge in South Alabama.

Likewise, the city has not explained how being drunk in a city vehicle in South Alabama furthered any of Councilor Moore's community development or public saftey duties for the city of Birmingham.

Meanwhile, in Birmingham, gunfire erupted in the parking lot of Topgolf in downtown Birmingham over the weekend. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Sunday night, another man was shot in his vehicle on Birmingham’s Dead Man’s Curve. His injuries were not life-threatening.

It is not clear when Moore was released from jail so he could resume his fighting crime duties in Birmingham.