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Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin announces new public safety task force

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — JULY 14, 2020 — Nearly 30 days ago, Mayor Randall L. 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. 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.

THEY ARE:

  • Currently, BPD policy says that chokeholds are not authorized and are not part the department’s training curriculum. While that is good, Mayor Woodfin wants to go a step further and implement an outright ban on chokeholds in the City of Birmingham.
  • Mayor 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 on www.peaceandpolicy.com. It may also 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,’’ said Mayor Woodfin.

“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.’’

Councilor Hunter Williams, who’s chairman of the City’s Public Safety Committee, and I will serve as co-chairs of this task force.

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 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.

NOTE: Earlier this year, a national movement known as #8CantWait evaluated and challenged 100 police departments across America to meet specific standards for “use of force.” BPD was listed as one of those departments. In reviewing the department’s policies, BPD meets or exceeds all eight standards of #8CantWait. The internal review is just another effort Mayor Randall L. Woodfin is taking to examine public safety standards.

NOTE: Video from today’s press conference may be found here.