Crime Reduction Plan for Birmingham Coming Next Month
By Sam Prickett
Several months after taking the job, Birmingham Police Chief Patrick D. Smith is expected to deliver a comprehensive plan for crime reduction to the City Council next month.
The announcement of the plan was made at Tuesday’s council meeting by Cedric D. Sparks, Mayor Randall Woodfin’s chief of staff, in response to concerns expressed by the council about increasing rates of violent crime in the city.
“I’m really anxious to know, when are we going to get with the police chief as a body to figure out how we are going to work together to eliminate crime in our city?” asked District 1 Councilor Lashunda Scales.
The answer, Sparks replied, would be November. “The mayor wanted to provide the chief an opportunity to get here, get his arms around several of the issues that are affecting our city and also have a comprehensive plan to report out,” he said. “That plan will (be given) to the council as a body in the month of November.”
Smith was hired to the job after a nationwide search in June, midway through what is on track to become the city’s deadliest year in decades. As of Oct. 16, Birmingham had logged 92 homicides in 2018, slightly ahead of the 87 homicides that had been reported at this point last year. By the end of 2017, Birmingham had a reported 117 homicides, the highest rate since 1995.
Since his hiring, Smith has made several changes to the department, including lowering the minimum age for new hires — a move intended to combat a significant personnel shortage in the department — and changing the department’s shift schedule to a “4/10” model, which he has said will lead to “overlapping responses (and) sufficient units in the field.”
Last month, the council approved a program to install nearly 100 surveillance cameras at undisclosed points throughout the city — intended to combat violent crime.
No specific date has been given for Smith’s presentation to the council; Sparks said he would individually contact councilors to find a suitable date.
Mexico fears more violence after army kills leader of powerful Jalisco cartel
School was canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside following the army's killing of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," and the violence it spurred
Newly discovered dinosaur species was a fish-eater with a huge horn
The semi-aquatic dinosaur, Spinosaurus mirabilis, was discovered by an international team of scientists working in Niger.
Reporters’ notebook: The Olympics closing ceremony is way more fun than you’d think
Olympics opening ceremonies tend to get more love than their closing counterparts. But a pair of NPR reporters who watched both in Italy left with a newfound appreciation for the latter.
Northeast readies for a major winter storm, with blizzard warnings in effect
New Jersey through Massachusetts could see 2 feet of snow. New York City's mayor said the city had not "seen a storm like this in a decade."
Mexican army kills leader of Jalisco New Generation Cartel, official says
The Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," in an operation Sunday, a federal official said.
Ukraine’s combat amputees cling to hope as a weapon of war
Along with a growing number of war-wounded amputees, Mykhailo Varvarych and Iryna Botvynska are navigating an altered destiny after Varvarych lost both his legs during the Russian invasion.
