Mayor Randall Woodfin on Thursday held a press conference to announce the release of a report from the Birmingham Public Safety Task Force regarding the city’s law enforcement policies, procedures and structure.
The task force was formed over the summer amid national civil unrest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The report, entitled “Reform and Reimagine Birmingham Public Safety,” outlined task force recommendations, as well as the Woodfin administration’s 2021-2025 public safety policy agenda.
A summary can be viewed here or below:
Speaking about public safety in the Magic City, Woodfin — a Democrat elected to office with the support of a Bernie Sanders-aligned group — dismissed any notion that Birmingham would be “defunding the police.”
“Unless we are saying to the public, ‘We want to let go of police officers,’ then we’re not going to be in a position to have this conversation,” Woodfin advised, after noting that about 90% of Birmingham PD’s budget goes toward personnel costs.
He explained, “As much as a national conversation is going on about defunding the police, on the ground the majority of voices I hear when I am in neighborhoods … when I’m speaking to everyday citizens, is the actual exact opposite of ‘defund the police.’ It’s, ‘Mayor, please, we want more police.’ And so again, the national conversation may not fit what’s happening on the ground.”
When asked further about what he would say to local supporters of the “defund the police” movement, Woodfin reiterated his earlier points.
“There is a conversation nationally about ‘defund police,’ and yes — I’ve heard that from some people locally in our community about it, but that is not at the same volume as our citizens saying, ‘We want more police presence, we want more police,’” Woodfin said. He reminded viewers that he campaigned on increasing the number of officers on the force when he was elected.
“But I think all citizens, whether it’s ‘defund the police’ or ‘we want more police,’ what everyone is saying is we want police accountability,we want more transparency, in our police department,” the mayor added. “We want to make sure that officers are doing the right thing. We want better training, etc.”
“[W]e won’t be defunding police in the city of Birmingham,” he emphasized.
Woodfin also stressed that the ultimate goal, which will take diligent work and time to reach, is “to be transparent, proactive and responsive to build a safe, healthy and equitable future for Birmingham.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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