Woodfin Asking $15.8 Million to Bolster Birmingham Police Ranks. Here’s What’s in the Proposal

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Tuesday proposed a $15.8 million plan for recruiting and retaining officers for the Birmingham Police Department, a step he told the City Council was “necessary” in light of the growing number of homicides in the city, including a recent mass shooting in Five Points South that left four dead and 17 others wounded. Many have questioned whether a lack of staffing in BPD is contributing to the higher number of murders which threatened to set records in the city. Birmingham City Council President Darryl O’Quinn has previously said the city is down nearly 300 officers. In August, wbhm.org reported that the Birmingham police department has 250 fewer officers than what its budget calls for. As recently as June, the department was down 320 officers and by some estimates, that’s about half of a fully staffed BPD, the site reported. Woodfin said Tuesday “a lot of numbers out there that are just false.” Ideally, the city would have 851 sworn officers, 440 of whom would be available to work patrol, the mayor said. Currently, there are 377 officers available to patrol, Woodfin said. “We’re only short 63 patrol officers.”...