By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on December 27, 2022
An Editorial Opinion
On December 26, 2022, Mayor Randall Woodfin outlined his new plan to combat the skyrocketing homicides from gun violence in Birmingham, Alabama. The plan is posted on Woodfin’s Facebook page.
After identifying the circumstances involved in 6 of the 144 homicides in Birmingham, as of December 26th, Woodfin said:
“There's a pattern with many of the tragedies our city has seen in recent weeks. These weren't random occurrences on our streets. These all happened in a private vehicles or residences:
12/18 – victim was riding in car with suspect(s)
12/18 – victim was in car at apartment complex
12/20 – victim visiting friends inside apartment unit
12/22 – victim in car in driveway
12/23 – victim and suspect family members at family home
12/26 – victim inside apartment complex”
Woodfin said nothing about Birmingham's other 138 homicides by gun violence in 2022. He did not specify how many of these 138 homicides occurred on the streets of Birmingham and involved gang and/or drug-related activity.
Street killings that arise from gang and drug-related activities constitute the overwhelming majority of Birmingham's homicides by gun violence.
Finally, Mayor Woodfin was completely silent about the 12 children who have died from gun violence in his city in 2022. The weeping Woodfin exhibited at his December 21, 2022 press conference to discuss the tragic murder of 12-year-old Audriana Pearson from a drive-by shooting earlier that day is absent from the mayor's Facebook page.
Woodfin’s Crime Fighting Plan
After his shallow and amateurish PR spin of 6 of the 144 killings in Birmingham from gun violence, Woodfin unveiled his new plan for dealing with the gun violence. Here is Woodfin's plan in his own words:
“I've said before that we can't police our way out of all violent crime in our city. That's especially true regarding crime on private property behind closed doors.
Before violence escalates in your home or with a friend or person you know, please, for the sake of yourself and your loved ones, attempt to calm the situation. If you can't, walk away and seek help. Confrontation breeds tragedy. Before things go too far, de-escalate the situation. Your life, and the lives of those you love, are worth it.”
That’s it. That’s Woodfin’s bold, new crime fighting plan.
Unbelievably, Woodfin does not plan on policing his way out of this surging gun violence. In his own words, Woodfin says he is going to Kumbaya his way out of this crisis.
On November 15, 2022, Woodfin’s crime-fighting plan, as announced in his testimony before Congress, called for the decriminalization of marijuana in Birmingham. In Woodfin's hip-hop view, making it safe and easy for city residents to get “high” all day would mellow them out. This, in turn, would reduce violent crime.
Both of Woodfin's publicly announced plans are pure bullshit!
A Proven and Effective Law Enforcement Plan
On December 23, 2022, I presented a proven and effective 10-step plan for combatting the city’s runaway gun violence in an article titled, “ How to Curb Violent Crime in Birmingham, Alabama.” Woodfin made no reference to this plan.
Today, Birmingham is an urban war zone. Nothing short of the crime-fighting plan I presented on December 23rd will curb the city's runaway gun violence.
The money for my plan is already in the city’s 2023 operating budget. Today, the millions of taxpayer dollars needed to implement my plan are being spent by Mayor Woodfin to reward his out-of-state political cronies for consulting work that is of little to no value to the city.
Woodfin's "pork" money is being bled out of the budget under the category of “Professional Services.” This "pork" money is parked in various department budgets, and Woodfin's cronies are feasting off of it.
Meanwhile, city residents are being murdered at an alarming rate, with no end in sight.
Epilogue
As I stated on November 18, 2022, “Birmingham is Dying.” Birmingham’s mayor is play-acting in his role in city government. In reality, he doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on, or what he can do to save his dying city. He is, however, very proficient in handing out "pork" money under the radar of public scrutiny.
What is worse, the members of the Birmingham city council have not stepped up to show any leadership in this crisis of gun violence and runaway homicides. They, too, have surrendered the streets to gang leaders and drug kingpins.
At this juncture, Birmingham’s mayor and council are merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after it has struck the iceberg.
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