With Gunfire on Rise, Birmingham Cordons Off Streets in One Neighborhood

Times staff report An average of about six shots per day were fired, more than 2,000 shots total during 2023, in the East Lake neighborhood, Mayor Randall Woodfin told the Birmingham City Council on Tuesday. Shotspotter, a gunshot detection that uses sensors to alert law enforcement of gunfire incidents in real time, recorded a total of 2,164 shots fired in the neighborhood, said the mayor. “That’s unacceptable,” he told the council. Woodfin recently announced the Safe Streets Initiative, a pilot plan to shut down street access to limit drivers coming into the East Lake neighborhood to shoot at houses and cars. According to the city the neighborhood is growing drug activity, prostitution and gunshots. “We will continue our aggressive policing,” Woodfin said. “We’ll continue to focus on gun violence citywide.” Woodfin stressed the focus is on just in the East Lake neighborhood, not the entire East Lake community that includes South East Lake, North East Lake and Wahouma. But the emphasis on East Lake neighborhood is a step in the direction of reducing crime overall, he said. “I believe we can decrease gun violence in this neighborhood,” Woodfin said. According to city officials, the goal is to cordon off streets...