A Birmingham police union spokesman said that Mayor Randall Woodfin’s proposal to recruit new officers and retain current ones is a step forward that he supports because it could lead to more “boots on the ground,” better pay and benefits.

“Boots on the ground has always worked, plain and simple,” said Deangelo Hall, president of the Birmingham Fraternal Order of Police.

The FOP is the biggest police union in the United States, with over 356,000 members in more than 2,100 fraternal lodges and local unions.

However, Hall also said more needs to be done to improve officer pay and benefits in order to improve staffing numbers.

“Benefits, wages, working conditions, those are the primary things that matter,” in recruiting and retaining officers, Hall said.

“This is a great step forward, but we still have to have our primary focus set on those benefits, wages and working conditions. That means making sure that your officers are the highest paid in the state of Alabama, making sure their benefits are competitive with everybody around the state, around the country.”

On Tuesday, Woodfin submitted his plan to the Birmingham City Council in an emergency public safety meeting called for the afternoon, after he spoke to the council at its regular meeting Tuesday morning. Woodfin asked the council to approve the plan at their Oct. 8 meeting.

Woodfin said Tuesday that the plan will help fill 172 vacant positions for Birmingham police patrol officers.

In public meetings earlier on Tuesday, Woodfin said the department was down only 63 patrol officers, which he later updated to 172 positions. That updated number was given to the council and to media, city spokesman Rick Journey said.

It was not clear on Wednesday morning why there was a discrepancy in the numbers. Efforts to reach Journey for clarification were not immediately successful.

Precinct numbers

Hall said having more officers available to patrol in each of the city’s precincts is crucial to fighting crime.

“When there were 136 officers at the precinct, you would actually have two people riding around in cars, you would have curfew vehicles, you would have mall cars, you’d have police completely saturating that area in that city,” Hall said.

“Because you saturated a certain area … you were able to push out that negative influence. Same principle. Boots on the ground.”

Currently, each of the city’s four precincts, North, South, East and West, has an estimated 62 to 76 officers available for patrol.

That is roughly 275 total, plus up to a dozen sergeants, three lieutenants and a captain at each precinct, a total of just over 330 officers, according to staffing rosters provided by officers.

That is the staff that responds to emergency calls, and does not include detectives or specialized departments such as K-9.

‘Y’all asked me to do something’

The funding for increasing officer numbers would come from the city’s general reserve fund, which had $290 million in it as of June 23, 2023, Woodfin said.

“These are necessary things we have to do,” Woodfin said.

The price tag might have some sticker shock, “but y’all asked me to do something,” Woodfin said. “We need to be overly aggressive in recruiting.”

To attract and retain more officers, he proposed spending $4.5 million for a take-home vehicle program, with money going to purchase 75 patrol cars; 50 to initiate the program and 25 to sustain the current fleet.

He proposed increased signing bonuses for new recruits, bumping up from $5,000 currently to $10,000.

He also proposed a retention bonus of $10,000 a year to keep officers in the department.

The proposal includes $600,000 for media marketing and a recruitment campaign, and spending $200,000 on recruiting consultants.

It calls for a new policy of eight hours a month of mental health observance leave, which would be taken like an extra day of vacation.

The proposal includes nearly $1.2 million for a part-time reserve officer program, and $561,600 for a police trainee program that allows for immediately hiring future police officers to begin academy preparation.

The plan calls for spending $100,000 to pay 20 out-of-state candidates per year relocation assistance to help them move to Birmingham.

It includes a $1,000 referral incentive for referring future police officers.

Police academy numbers

“This is the most challenging time we’ve ever experienced,” said Police Chief Scott Thurmond. “People are always calling 911. We have to be there to respond to those calls.”

Deputy Chief Rod Mauldin told the council that on Saturday, 78 candidates participated the BPD’s Physical Agility and Ability Screening, with 38 meeting the physical requirements. “That’s more than we’ve had in the past four years,” Mauldin said.

At least 16 candidates are expected to take part in the next police academy that starts in November.

Woodfin called an emergency public safety meeting with the City Council on Tuesday to further discuss public safety measures being taken in the aftermath of recent violent crimes, including the mass shooting Sept. 21 in front of Hush Lounge at Five Points South.

Woodfin detailed the hiring and retiring trend, year by year.

In 2020, the city hired 67 new officers, but 35 retired, he said. In 2021, the city hired 51, but 47 retired. In 2022, the city hired 31, but 14 retired. In 2023, the city hired 19 and 12 retired.

The city has also hired back 54 retirees, although that creates problems with pension accounting since the retirees can’t continue accruing pension benefits after they already retired.