Alaina Bookman reports for the “Beyond the Violence” collaborative, a partnership between AL.com, The Birmingham Times and CBS42. Support her work here.

As homicides fall in other big cities in Alabama, Birmingham is grappling with a dramatic increase in deadly shootings.

With well over a month left in the year, Birmingham has already surpassed 2023’s homicide total. And the Magic City is on track to break the all-time homicide record of 148, set nearly a century ago in 1933.

“I’m sick of feeling unsafe in my own city,” Birmingham City Council member Crystal Smitherman said after a recent mass shooting killed four people and left 17 uninjured.

“I’m getting calls from people in different cities asking, ‘Are you okay?’ I hear at the nail salon, the hair shop, everywhere, talking about crime. I’m sick of it because people feel so comfortable to commit crime…That’s so disrespectful to everyone who lives here.”

Huntsville and Mobile both have growing populations – and fewer murders. Birmingham, which is losing people, stands out among the state’s four biggest cities for its growing homicide rate.

Birmingham officials, advocates and community members say they continue to work toward solutions to curb the violence. Experts say change is possible.

“There are solutions that exist right now in places across the country and state,” Cassandra Crifasi, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, told AL.com.

The Offender Alumni Association, a Birmingham-based nonprofit, provides resources to gunshot victims starting at the hospital bed. Such “credible messenger” programs can be effective, experts say, and the association has results: Of more than 100 gunshot victims who enrolled in the hospital linked violence intervention program since its inception in 2023, only one person had been reinjured, according to the program.

“Coming from the community and actually having been those youth and having made some of those same choices that they are now making, we are now able to be that role model to not only show them a different path but to help them navigate,” Deborah Daniels, executive director & cofounder of the Offender Alumni Association, said.

AL.com has put together a list of the number of homicides that have taken place in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Mobile, from 2014 to 2024. Nationally, homicides and violent crime decreased in the first half of 2024, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

As of Nov. 20, 2024,

• Huntsville had 16 homicides,
• Mobile had 32 homicides,
• Montgomery had 55 homicides,
• And Birmingham had 131 non-justifable homicides.

Each city reports homicides that can be investigated as murders. In 2024, Birmingham also reported 10 homicides that were determined to be justifiable, and therefore aren’t deemed criminal.

In all, the city has recorded 141 homicides as of Nov. 20.

How safe are Alabama cities?

Huntsville, now Alabama’s largest city and home to more than 225,000 people, has recorded just 14 homicides so far in 2024.

“Over the past 10 years, trust with our community members, strong partnerships and the dedication of our department personnel in everyday policing have been instrumental in solving the city’s homicides. These relationships are the foundation of our success in bringing justice to families, but more importantly, they are key to preventing future tragedies,” Huntsville Police Chief Kirk Giles told AL.com in a statement.

“One homicide is one too many and we remain committed not only to solving crimes but to working alongside the community to stop them from happening in the first place,” Giles said.

Huntsville is very different than other major cities in the state, though. According to federal data, the individual median income was $43,202, the poverty rate was 14.1% and the owner occupied housing rate was 57.5% in 2022.

By contrast, in Mobile, the individual median income was $31,328, the poverty rate was 20.7% and the owner occupied housing rate was 50.6% in 2022.

Poverty rates don’t equal crime, of course, but experts say that when resources flow out of communities, local residents can be vulnerable. And once violence occurs, cycles can repeat.

Crifasi said public health solutions such as violence intervention programs and street outreach can help to interrupt that cycle.

“It allows a deep dive into what kinds of missed opportunities were there for intervention, what kinds of services might help. And it gives communities a voice. They have a seat at the table. They are a part of the creation of solutions,” Crifasi said.

So far in 2024, Mobile has reported 32 homicides.

“Our team of homicide investigators work tirelessly to solve each case, seeking justice for the victims and their families. It’s never easy for any of these men and women to walk onto a scene where there’s been life lost, but they do it with such determination to make sure every lead is looked at carefully…It’s imperative we settle our arguments in a peaceful way,” Mobile Police Department Chief William Jackson told AL.com in a statement.

“Our work isn’t finished. Violence is never the answer. We won’t stop investigating these crimes, and those found responsible for committing such acts, will be arrested and charged, accordingly.”

USA Health University Hospital is erecting a Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program to curb violence and retaliation, decrease reinjury rates and build trust with the community. The hospital will put gunshot victims in touch with credible messengers and the resources they need to thrive throughout the healing process.

“It’s like a walk throughout their journey. We want to make sure that they have that full circle, that ecosystem of violence prevention,” Ashley Williams, a trauma acute care surgeon and the director for the Center for Healthy Communities at USA Health University Hospital, said.

In Montgomery, the individual median income was $31,549, the poverty rate was 21.2% and the owner occupied housing rate was 53.5% in 2022. The city’s population is a little under 200,000.

The city reported 75 homicides in 2023, and 52 so far in 2024.

“Montgomery Police Department remains dedicated to working each homicide from onset to conclusion,” Montgomery Interim Chief of Police James Graboys said. “Our current clearance rate of 65 percent is well above the national average and is evidence of our efforts,”

In June, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency launched the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit, made up of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, to address what it called a surge in violent crime in Montgomery.

“MPD is also dedicated to taking all actions possible to reduce and prevent homicides by utilizing and partnering with the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit in proactive policing. We are also actively working closer with churches, community groups and the city’s Office of Violence Prevention to pursue de-escalation measures within our communities,” Graboys said.

Since its inception, the taskforce has seized over 137 firearms.

“Not only are officers removing dangerous drugs and firearms from the streets, but they are also proactively working to uncover the direct source of illegal [machine gun] conversion devices before they fall into the possession of criminals,” ALEA Secretary Hal Taylor told AL.com in October.

What is Birmingham doing?

Then there is Birmingham. While the Birmingham metro is home to about 1.1 million people, the city itself has a population of about 196,000 and dropping. And, for the last decade, it has had a growing homicide problem.

“During this tragic time, the Birmingham Police Department is actively pursuing those accountable with unwavering dedication. We stand committed to bringing justice to the victims and their families and holding those responsible accountable,” Sergeant Laquitta Wade, public information officer for the Birmingham Police Department, said in a statement after a slew of shootings, including one that killed a local teen, Gerald Andre Lomax Jr.

Many of Birmingham’s homicides go unsolved. In 2022, 37% of Birmingham homicides were solved, according to the annual City of Birmingham’s Comprehensive Financial Report. Nationally, about half of homicides result in an arrest and less than half result in a conviction, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

“Gun violence is a public health crisis in our nation…we refuse to rest on our laurels,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said earlier this month. “The key to a safer Birmingham lies in collaboration, the coming together of like minds and shared experiences to create a game plan to effectively address crime, particularly gun violence.”

In October, Woodfin announced the creation of a new crime commission after a mass shooting in Five Points South injured 17 people and killed four to reduce violence throughout the city.

Curbing the violence: Experts weigh in

Birmingham’s individual median income between 2018 and 2022 was 26.1%, lower than the other cities, according to the Census Bureau. The poverty rate was 26.1% and the owner occupied housing rate was 49.5%.

In order to combat violence, experts say, local residents need to know that they have options for safer, happier and more secure lives.

Alabama initiatives like the UAB Hospital based violence intervention program, Magic City YouthBuild program, RESTORE program, Surge Project, Kings Kids Outreach and Barbers Against Bullets are working to provides their communities with educational and job opportunities, transportation, food, clothing, housing and safe spaces to curb violence.

RESTORE program coordinators work to strengthen communities that have experienced violence or lack the resources residents need to thrive.

Antski Williams, program manager for RESTORE, a Birmingham-based juvenile reentry initiative, leads weekly workshops with justice involved youth, teaching them about goal setting, self respect and accountability.

He and other RESTORE program coordinators can often be found doing street outreach, knocking on doors and working directly with families in need. Williams said building relationships with the community’s youth and their families is the key to stopping the violence.

“We’re saving lives,” Williams told AL.com. “That helps us work on prevention because for two hours, twice a week, every week, they are able to put down their street beef until they change the politics in the street. That means that they’re not out there dying or killing. We touch their lives everyday. We’re restoring lives, restoring communities.”

Since the RESTORE program’s inception in 2023, the number of Jefferson County youth ages 13-22 years old who were charged with murder decreased by 80%, and homicide victims in the same age group dropped by 61%.

Experts also recommend implementing firearm licensing that includes background checks and mandatory safety training, removing firearms from those at risk of harming themselves or others, repealing stand-your-ground laws and more stringent permitting for open and concealed carrying of firearms.

In 2023, Alabama made it legal to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. Recently, some GOP lawmakers and law enforcement personnel have begun to back stricter laws amid a local rise in gun violence.

“If policymakers were serious about wanting to address the continuing burden of gun violence in this country, there are things that they could do that could help stem the tide,” Crifasi said.

Stephanie Hawkins, vice president of the Transformative Research Unit for Equity at RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, said structural changes such as community investment in schools, transportation, clean water, violence intervention programs, job opportunities and representation of diverse voices in community violence prevention research and policies are all key to preventing homicides.

“Effective violence prevention efforts require us to embrace the long game,” Hawkins said.

Information was found through crime reports and responses to public records requests from local police departments.