Fixing Birmingham’s problem with gun violence is going to take not just the police, but commitments from employers and regular citizens in the community, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said today.

Woodfin took to the airwaves and Instagram this morning for a live discussion of the recently released Crime Commission report and the strategies in it toward making Birmingham a safer place to live. In the Magic City Spotlight on WATV, Woodfin was joined by Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. David Hicks and Birmingham Police Deputy Chief Rod Mauldin.

The Birmingham Crime Commission, launched several months ago to address the city’s homicide crisis – specifically gun-related murders – rolled out an initial report calling for a multifaceted crime-fighting strategy focusing on both immediate and long-term solutions, on Jan. 6.

The report has been made public and pushed out through city social channels.

Woodfin talked today about the push to act on the report’s provisions, some in the next 90 days.

“I think it’s going to be extremely critical that when we look at this unfortunately formula of concentrated poverty plus boys who are not in school, plus young men unemployed equals higher crime, that we address those things,” Woodfin said. “That tells me one, the important stakeholders here are not just the Department of Health and the police department, but also Birmingham City Schools, Birmingham Public Housing Authority, those are critical partners in addressing this.

“But we got to talk to our employers too about how to employ these young Black men between the ages of 18 and 30 who are right there at the center of being killed or doing the killing.”

Woodfin said that the city of Birmingham would match employers willing to pay young unemployed Black men a wage of $11 an hour, bringing their compensation to the minimum livable wage of $22 per hour.

He said, as the Crime Commission report noted, the city wants to convene all organizations in the city that hold themselves out as focused on youth, “to convene all those stakeholders to say what’s optimal and working, what’s not working and what’s working. The city of Birmingham needs to be in the best position through public private partnerships, not just with tax dollars, but again, corporate dollars and private dollars, to fund these programs that have the best and most impact, positive impact on investing in our young Black boys.”

Woodfin and the report place much of the blame for gun violence on the formula the mayor emphasized: “Concentrated poverty plus young Black boys not in school and young Black men unemployed equals higher crime.”

“Birmingham, Alabama, is a majority Black city, one of the Blackest cities in America,” Woodfin said. “And so we unfortunately have those numbers at a higher rate than any other city in the state of Alabama. And so you can track it that way.”

Breaking through that formula is one step toward a safer city, Woodfin said.

“How do we employ our young Black men? What are the alternative programs if our young boys don’t want to go to a traditional K12 school? Can we empower them? Can we give them a trade? Whatever it is, we have to take care of those two groups. Young Black boys, young Black men. What are the carrots? What are the tools? What are the resources? What are the opportunities? And literally fund them daily.”

He also talked about the alternative to the carrot – the stick, meaning more robust and intentional police action against young men who insist on committing violence.

“What’s the carrot? Can we get you off the street, what assistance you need? Can we help you get gainfully employed? How do we empower and encourage you? I think at the same time, for the ones who throw their nose up to us, who want to stay out there hell-bent on illegal activity that leads to shooting and death, we arrest them,” Woodfin said. “We sit them down. We put them in jail, because they didn’t want the carrot. And here’s the full stick for you, because either way, you should not be allowed to continue to be out here in the streets hurting people.”

Mauldin said that the Birmingham police have specific intentional strategies against violent crime in 2025. “One thing going into this year that we wanted to do is be in more of a proactive and offensive posture,” Mauldin said. “We believe in making those deposits into our community and making sure they know that we’re there when we need them. But we’re also here to know that if you decide to be that small number of individuals that make people feel unsafe, we’re going to meet you where you are.”

The Crime Commission report calls for addressing what has become a well-known problem for the BPD – a shortage of officers. As of the report’s release, the city had 233 vacancies to fill on the police force. “To meet its goal of 850-1,000 sworn officers and ensure adequate public safety staffing, BPD must significantly increase its annual hiring rate,” the report says.

“The optimal approach lies in adopting a 150-200 hires per year range, which balances urgency with feasibility.”

Woodfin said recruitment for new officers is under way.

“We just had a recruiting class this past Thursday that graduated 10 officers,” the mayor said. “There’s a current recruiting class that just started in November. Next recruiting class is in March.”

About $16 million was recently allocated to improve BPD staffing levels, and Woodfin said he is “an ambassador” for the BPD marketing efforts.

” I’m part of the marketing recruitment team, he said. “So we have to be intentional about wanting people to be BPD.”