The city of Birmingham will apply for state and federal grants to purchase new license plate readers and high-definition surveillance cameras, the city council decided Tuesday.
The city will apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, through the Alabama Law Enforcement Safety Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, for $100,000 to purchase and maintain license plate readers “to improve the [Birmingham Police Department’s] response to violent crime.”
That decision comes just over a year after the council approved the installation of 10 license plate recognition cameras as part of a deal with Alabama Power. The city pays the utility a monthly rate of $2,291.67 to maintain the cameras. Those cameras had received pushback from activists concerned over “excessive” city funding for police, but Tuesday, the grant applications were approved without any discussion or controversy.
Another grant application approved Tuesday — also to DOJ through ADECA — requests $35,000 for the purchase, installation and maintenance of high-resolution surveillance cameras.
The council also approved a $394,231.50 increase in its contract with the Texas-based Tyler Technologies to add computer-aided dispatch maintenance services.
After multiple delays, the Birmingham Police Department is scheduled to launch its “real-time crime center” sometime this month. The $940,030 facility will serve as the BPD’s technological hub, consolidating technology such as ShotSpotter, PredPol, and Motorola’s CommandCentral Aware and BriefCam softwares.
These efforts are intended to combat the city’s rising rate of violent crime. Aside from a slight dip in 2018, the city’s homicide rate has increased steadily since 2014; 2020’s 124 homicides were the most the city had seen since 1994, and 2021 is roughly on track to match that number.
News from WBHM will never be behind a paywall. Ever. We need your help to keep our coverage free for everyone. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. You can support our journalism for as little as $5. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.
Kids between the ages of 5-11 years old might be able to get vaccinated in the near future. Here’s why it would be a game-changer for the Gulf States, and how they’re preparing for the shot’s rollout.
Single-mother households represent about 60% of all Birmingham households with children, according to Mayor Randall Woodfin's office. The mothers involved in the program will receive $375 a month for a year.
Birmingham leaders officially opened the city's Real Time Crime Center Tuesday, a project intended to give the Birmingham Police Department new technological tools to help resolve crime more quickly.
The face of homeschooling is changing and diversifying. In just a year, the number of Black families has increased five-fold— and for more reasons than COVID-19. Several families told WBHM they see homeschooling as a way to protect their children from educational racism.
Wages have gone up as restaurants try to hold onto their staff amid a record number of people quitting their jobs in the U.S., especially in the South.
Christina Nance had been missing since Sept. 25, her family says. Video footage from that day shows her entering the van, which was in a police parking lot. Her body was found 12 days later.
