The Republican nominee for Alabama Attorney General, Katherine Robertson, is already on the front lines of U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville’s plan to send to crack down on crime in Montgomery.
Tuberville (R-Auburn), the Republican nominee to be the state’s next governor, is promising bring violent crime in Alabama’s four largest cities down by 20% before the end of the first term. The senator has said he might send the National Guard to help with the effort in Montgomery.
“As your governor, I’ll personally recruit a new generation of law enforcement officers, institute the nation’s harshest penalties for child abusers, bring accountability to judges and district attorneys, and don’t think I won’t send in the National Guard on day one,” Tuberville said in an ad released earlier this year. “I’m Tommy Tuberville, and I’m going to make sure Alabama’s communities are safe.”
Robertson, chief counsel to Attorney General Steve Marshall for the last 10 years, told WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” that she would support sending the Guard, but said more needs to be done.
“The National Guard, you know, calling them in is is to kind of surge and do a quick reaction to a problem, to tamp things down for a while while you work on solving the long-term problem, and so I mean I don’t have a problem with that,” Robertson said. “I think that’s great. I mean anything you can do to reduce crime, but it does not replace having a long-term fix for Montgomery.”
Robertson said she supports State Sen. Will Barfoot’s (R-Pike Road) proposal, which would have required certain large municipal police departments to maintain at least 1.9 full-time officers per 1,000 residents.
“I believe that the long-term fix for Montgomery looks a lot like what Senator Barfoot offered last year,” Robertson said, “which is to say, ‘Hey Montgomery, if you’re not going to have an adequate police force. You’re not going to prioritize it. You’re not going to recruit. You’re not going to lead in a way that makes law enforcement officers want to sign up for your team. Then the state’s going to do it, and you’re going to pay us to.’ I love that idea.”
Under the plan, cities falling below that threshold would have been given five years to increase staffing before potentially becoming subject to Alabama Law Enforcement Agency oversight. The bill passed the Senate but died when the House adjourned without taking a vote.
“Does it need some polishing up? Sure, but as a general concept, I don’t think we ought to surrender a city just because the local leadership is poor,” Robertson added. “But I also don’t think other localities ought to foot the bill to police the town, and so Montgomery’s got the resources financially. They just won’t do what’s necessary to build up their police force, and so I think the state ought to take it over. I really do.”
The bill failed to pass last session after city officials strongly opposed the proposal, calling it an unfunded state mandate and arguing that Montgomery’s public safety strategy was producing results.
Robertson faces Democrat Jeff McLaughlin in the general election on November 3.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee.
