By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on October 24, 2024
An Editorial Opinion
Controversial Birmingham, Alabama Police Chief Scott Thurmond has left his job. He's out.
Thurman, who was appointed to the position of police chief by Mayor Randall Woodfin in June 2022, repeatedly stressed the need to restore Birmingham’s dwindling police force to 900 sworn officers. Woodfin, who systematically defunded his police department, ignored Thurmond's warnings for two straight years.
Scott Thurmond replaced Chief Patrick Smith, who served for 3 years. Like Thurmond, Smith also pleaded with Mayor Woodfin to fully staff the police department with 900 or more officers. Woodfin ignored Smith’s pleas, as well.
Today, nobody knows how many police officers Birmingham currently employs. The number of sworn officers and vacancies Woodfin reported to his city council earlier this month are untrustworthy. Sources inside the department say the true number of police officers employed is around 400 of the 900 officers needed to fully staff the police force.
Woodfin named Michael Pickett as Interim Police Chief and Edmond Hanks as Assistant Chief.
Under Birmingham’s Mayor-Council Act, Mayor Randall Woodfin is the sole city official with the statutory power and authority to enforce all laws and ordinances in Birmingham. Until the Five Points South mass shooting in September, Woodfin ignored this duty.
The Five Points South mass shooting is the third one since February.
As the documentary below shows, hardcore street gangs have taken over the streets of Birmingham. They have turned city streets into rivers of blood.
Birmingham is the "Worst-Run City" in Alabama
Even though financial website WalletHub recently ranked Birmingham as the "worst-run city" in Alabama (and 19th from the bottom of the 148 most populated cities in the U.S.), Mayor Woodfin has refused to resign his position.
In ranking the "worst-run" cities, a panel of WalletHub experts looked at Birmingham’s financial stability, education, healthcare, safety, economy, and infrastructure and pollution. All of these quality of life factors fall within the mayor’s statutory duties and all of them were ranked at the bottom of the state -- for the first time ever.
In contrast, Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr., led a much larger populated Birmingham to consistent rankings by U.S. News and World Report as one of the Top 5 "Best Managed Cities" in America during his term in office (1979 to 1999), using the same quality of life factors.
Partying in the "Murder Capital of the U.S."
Birmingham is partying this week as a lead up to the Magic City Classic football game on Saturday between Alabama State University and Alabama A&M University.
Guess who was not invited to the VIP parties hosted by Mayor Woodfin and other Birmingham-area elected officials? Family members of the victims of this year’s mass shootings and gun-related homicides. These VIP guests have been completely ignored.
Grieving family members got "thoughts and prayers" from Mayor Woodfin at the time their loved ones were killed, but received no thoughtful consideration for inclusion and recognition during city-hosted festive events affiliated with the Classic.
The one small thing Mayor Woodfin could have done to bring some measure of comfort to these grieving family members, he was not capable of doing.
Birmingham's Murder Drum Beat Goes On
In February, Forbes ranked Birmingham as the No. 3 most dangerous city in the U.S. Thanks to a spree of mass shootings since February, Birmingham is now the “Murder Capital of the U.S.”
Today, the most important change that is needed in Birmingham's leadership ranks is Randall Woodfin’s departure from the mayor’s job. He has failed in every category of leadership that matters to city residents.
Mayor Randall Woodfin is propped up by three major Birmingham-based corporations that control City Hall politics. Since 1999, these corporations have picked and funded all Birmingham mayors. This unholy alliance of puppet masters needs to find somebody else to support for mayor in 2025. If they don't, there is no way to halt Birmingham’s long, slow, and painful death.
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