Birmingham Mayor Announces New Public Safety Task Force

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Mayor Randall Woodfin Tuesday announced he has appointed a task force that will examine Birmingham's public safety agencies and procedures. The task force includes five members and is led by Woodfin and councilman Hunter Williams.

The task force members are:

• Jaselle Houghtlin – A recent UAB graduate and co-founder of the advocacy group, Listen
• Cara McClure, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Birmingham
• Victor Revill, a Birmingham Attorney with Revill & Associates
• Ed Watkins, a former Birmingham police detective
• Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama

In June, Woodfin announced that his office would take a deeper look at public safety. During that review, the City of Birmingham’s Office of Peace and Policy and other city team members looked at public safety policies and best practices based on the 8 Can’t Wait national framework.

"What the team found was that the Birmingham Police Department is in alignment with the standards of 8 Can’t Wait, which highlights eight issues," Woodfin said in Tuesday's news conference. "However, there is room for improvement. Today, the team released a report that said out of the eight 8 Can’t Wait Standards, there are two they found that demand immediate attention."

The two standards Woodfin found needing attention:

• Currently, BPD policy says that chokeholds are not authorized and are not part the department’s training curriculum. Woodfin wants to take that a step further and implement an outright ban on chokeholds in the City of Birmingham.
• Woodfin wants to add direct language to the department’s use of force policy to establish "duty to intervene" as a rule and regulation for BPD officers.

The remaining BPD policies meet the recommended 8 Can’t Wait standards as is. A copy of Peace and Policy’s report on recommendations and review of 8 Can’t Wait may be found here.

"Although the city’s 8 Can’t Wait report proves Birmingham is headed in the right direction, we are charged with striving even further, which is why I’ve appointed a Birmingham Public Safety Task Force to examine additional areas of improvement," Woodfin said. "Over the next 90 days, this task force will meet and review areas the City can improve as the areas relate to public safety. In the end, the task force will suggest a road map of where we can become stronger."

In the coming weeks, forums will be available so that the public may share their thoughts and opinions about public safety and learn more about various issues. In the interim, if anyone would like to share their ideas, they should send them to peace@birminghamal.gov.