Dr. David Thrasher of Montgomery is most recently recognized for his work guiding Alabama’s capital city through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Thrasher has turned his attention to a different challenge he says the city must confront.
This week, Thrasher spoke with WAKA News, to underscore his concerns about Montgomery’s rapidly growing crime rate.
“COVID was the hardest two years of my life, but I said we’ve got another pandemic now and I can’t just keep my mouth shut,” said Thrasher, a resident of the city for 74 years.
He said he was first pushed to act after his own house in Montgomery was robbed.
“I started doing some research, and we do have rampant crime,” Thrasher explained. “85% of cities our size – between 100,000 and 200,000 – are safer than us. We’re in the top homicides per capita, we’re in the top burglaries per capita. Our homicide rate is worse than Chicago.”
One recent shooting he mentioned was particularly tragic.
“Every day someone comes in (to the emergency rooms) with a shooting. This past weekend, (there were) 15 shootings. 4 were life-threatening. We’ve had 18 Montgomery school kids shot this year. 12 died. This isn’t all about 20 or 30 year-old people getting murdered. These are our kids getting murdered.”
The former Montgomery County Coroner also noted the alarming rate of officer resignations versus officer hires in recent months.
“We’ve got $60 million dollars in the city in reserve right now. We have $5 million dollars from the last two years of unspent, budgeted MPD money. Mainly because we don’t have the personnel. Use that money to pay for overtime for our sheriff’s deputies, ALEA, or even private Presidential Security. We’ve got to get boots on the ground,” Thrasher said. “Time is not on our side either. We are hemorrhaging people. We’re down 7,000 people, whereas Birmingham and Huntsville are growing. We’re going to lose our tax base.”
“We have lost 33 MPD (officers) in the last three months. We’ve hired three.
For Thrasher, the objective of his efforts is simple.
“I want to try to make a difference in Montgomery. My goal is to be the spark that starts the fire to get everyone talking about the crime issue.”
Dr. Thrasher said in his remarks that he believes one of the fastest ways to improve the crime rate would be to higher a police chief who truly understands the city and its needs. Another top priority, according to Thrasher, should be hiring more officers.
Thrasher is an original founder and board member of the Boys and Girls Club Foundation. In 2024, he was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. He has previously been honored by Governor Kay Ivey and the state Legislature.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
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