By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on October 16, 2024
An Editorial Opinion
There is a Rule Book for politicians in deep trouble. Rule No. 1: Whenever you have failed miserably in a key job responsibility, appoint a commission to study the problem and recommend solutions for correcting it. Rule No. 2: Pack the handpicked commission with friends, cronies, and businesses associates who feed off your taxpayer-sponsored generosity. Rule No. 3: Sell your bogus commission concept to the public through a network of friendly news media sources. In Alabama, this coveted media role is performed by the Newhouse family-owned media affiliates in the state.
In the aftermath of three mass shootings during the last seven months and 130 gun-related homicides this year, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has gone to the Rule Book to get the scorching political heat off of him from the string of unsolved murders and mass killings in Birmingham.
Gang warfare and rivers of blood in the streets have combined to sink Birmingham’s future faster than the iceberg sank the Titanic. Birmingham’s national image today is drenched in the blood of innocent homicide victims.
Since taking office as Mayor in November 2017, Woodfin has charted a course that made Birmingham: (a) a “Welcoming City” for international criminal gangs in 2018, (b) the No. 3 most dangerous city in the U.S. in 2024, and (c) the emerging “Murder Capital of the U.S.”
Through budget cuts, malfeasance, and a lack of institutional knowledge about public safety, Mayor Woodfin has succeeded in reducing Birmingham's police force from 912 officers in 2017 to about 400 sworn officers today. Additionally, Woodfin’s shifting public statements about the number of police officers working and job vacancies are completely untrustworthy.
After sitting idlily by and watching more than 800 Birmingham residents die from gun shot wounds during his seven-year term as mayor, Woodfin now says he is “pissed” about gun violence. As such, Woodfin has formed a new crime commission that he says will address skyrocketing daily murders and surging numbers of unsolved mass shootings.
Who’s on the Commission?
When I first saw the names on the 19-member commission, I thought it was Woodfin’s campaign committee from 2017 and 2021. Woodfin named Ralph Williams, a Vice President at Alabama Power Company, as a co-chair of the commission. Woodfin also named Lee Styslinger III, one of his political supporters as the other co-chair. Styslinger serves on the boards of Altec, Birmingham Promise, Birmingham Business Alliance, Children’s Hospital, Regions Financial, and Vulcan Materials.
It is important to remember that Alabama Power handpicked Randall Woodfin for mayor and coordinated the major funding for his 2017 and 2021 campaigns.
Lee Styslinger, III, praised Woodfin in an August 26, 2024 Op-Ed published in the Birmingham Times for “having the courage to tackle a complex [gun violence] problem that defies simple fixes.” Whether Woodfin has courage or not, his first statutory duty as mayor is to enforce all laws and ordinances. This, he has NOT done. Crime victims have died. Now, Woodfin is mad.
Other notable members of the commission include:
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, whose office approved a 10-year suspended sentence and 4 years of probation for former Homewood, Alabama city councilman Vance Moody after he entered a guilty plea to sexually molesting an 11-year-old boy.
Convicted child molester Vance Moody. Emory Anthony, a well-known criminal defense lawyer in Birmingham whose day-job is to: (a) defend violent criminals, (b) help those who are charged with capital offenses escape the death penalty, and (c) prevent dangerous criminals from going to prison.
Leroy Abrahams, an executive vice president at Regions Bank where Lee Styslinger, III, serves as a board member.
Patrick Davis, Special Agent in Charge at U.S. Secret Service - Birmingham Field Office. This is the same federal agency whose admitted blunders on July 13, 2024, almost got GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump killed on national TV in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Charitably speaking, this crime commission is stacked with Woodfin sycophants. None of the members can be viewed as “independent” commissioners.
Former Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper will serve as a consultant to the new commission. Roper is not a member of the commission with voting power. In 2017, Roper was forced out as police chief by Woodfin.
For all intents and purposes, the Woodfin crime commission, as a whole, is nothing more than a rubber-stamp collection of the mayor's political friends, associates, campaign supporters, and strategically-placed corporate alllies.
An Aloof Mayor in Search of a Crime Fighting Plan
In 2018, Mayor Woodfin’s crime fighting plan called for cutting more than $4 million out of the police department’s budget and eliminating 47 positions within the department.
In 2022, Woodfin’s crime fighting plan, as announced in Congressional testimony, called for the decriminalization of marijuana and kumbaya sessions.
In May 2024, Woodfin proposed creating and deputizing members of a 200-person Citizens Observer Patrol Unit to cruise neighborhoods looking for drug trafficking and gang-related activities on city streets. This idea was guaranteed to get more innocent people killed.
Last week, Woodfin unveiled a plan to spend $15.8 million to recruit, hire, and train more police officers. Even then, Woodfin's plan fell far short of restoring the police force to the 900 sworn officers required to provide adequate public safety in the city.
This week, a frustrated Randall Woodfin punted the ball to his new commission to provide suggested crime fighting solutions. Now, Woodfin can blame every bad outcome in the fight against violent crime on his newly-appointed crime commission.
None of Woodfin’s crime fighting plans takes into account that 900 or more sworn officers are needed to properly service a 151 square miles city that sits in two counties and has 99 scattered neighborhoods and communities. The department’s website (as of May 2024) confirms this fact.
The “Murder Capital of the U.S.”
In 2024, Forbes Magazine ranked Birmingham as the No. 3 most dangerous cities in the U.S. Birmingham is well on its way to becoming the “Murder Capital of the U.S.”
Residents are afraid to leave their homes. Public gatherings and birthday parties are no longer safe. The next mass shooting is always just around the corner.
Where Do We Go from Here?
From what I can see, the new Woodfin crime commission is all smoke and mirrors. Practically speaking, the commission is nothing more than a circle jerk of political play pals who are committed to (a) covering Woodfin’s naked ass with a fig leaf and (b) saving his re-election chances.
It appears that there will be no Calvary coming to save the residents of Birmingham from the ravages of gang warfare, violent deaths, and rivers of blood flowing in the streets.
Meanwhile, Birmingham is still a “Welcoming City” to a steady stream of illegal immigrants and international criminal gang members. The city’s police department does not cooperate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency in rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants, according to Woodfin.
I do not advise any Birmingham resident to place the lives, safety, and welfare of his/her family in the hands of Mayor Randall Woodfin. His slick PR gestures might hoodwink some members of the public, but they will NEVER solve this violent crime problem.
Going forward, it looks like the residents of Birmingham may have to fend for themselves when it comes to protecting themselves, their family members, and property from the dangerous street gangs that run the city.
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