Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said she believes a crime task force active in Montgomery could be replicated in Jefferson County to help combat Birmingham’s violent crime problem.

Ivey said in her State of the State address like week that she wanted to expand Montgomery’s Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit as part of an effort to crack down on crime statewide. This weekend, she told WSFA she wanted a similar unit in Birmingham.

“For sure we need one in Birmingham,” Ivey told the station. “They reached their 90-year high mark in gun violence.”

Birmingham ended 2024 with 152 homicides, its highest number of violent deaths in a single year since 1933. The city has had 13 homicides this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 20 homicides in 2025.

Montgomery’s Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit, knowns as MACS, was launched in June 2024 to address a surge in violent crime in and around Montgomery.

MACS is made up of law enforcement officers from ALEA, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, the Montgomery Police Department, the Montgomery Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, told AL.com on Monday the governor “believes Birmingham could benefit from the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit she established here in Montgomery.”

“Cities around the nation have struggled with increasing public safety challenges, and our urban areas are not immune. That is one reason why Governor Ivey is making a big push to pass this comprehensive public safety package this Session that will help back the blue and combat inner city gun violence,” Maiola said.

After last week’s State of the State address, Alabama Law Enforcement Secretary Hal Taylor told reporters he had talked to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin about the possibility of a MACS unit in Jefferson County. Taylor said it could draw from the multiple municipal police departments in the county.

Rick Journey, spokesman for the city of Birmingham, on Monday said the city is grateful for the work the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency does with Birmingham.

“We are certainly open to further conversations related to collaboration much the way we partner with Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway and his department, and our federal law enforcement partners,” Journey said.

“As stated in the news conference today concerning Glock switches, we are committed to showing a united front in combating violent crime.”