��������

RIGHT NOW, NO SUSPECTS ARE IN CUSTODY. THE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING CASES LIKE THIS ONE WHILE ADMITTING TO BEING UNDERSTAFFED. THANKS FOR JOINING US AT FIVE. I’M GUY RAWLINGS AND I’M SHERI FALK. CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT DARRELL O’QUINN RECENTLY REVEALED THE DEPARTMENT IS SHORT, NEARLY 300 OFFICERS. �������� 13 AARON LLEWELLYN LIVE AND LOCAL OUTSIDE OF POLICE HEADQUARTERS TONIGHT AFTER TALKING TO A STATE REPRESENTATIVE, HE CALLS THE ISSUE A CRISIS. AARON. YEAH, GUYS. SHERRY. STATE REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN TREADAWAY SAYS THAT STAFFING ISSUES ARE A NATIONWIDE PROBLEM, BUT THE PROBLEMS HERE IN BIRMINGHAM ARE OUTPACING THE NATIONWIDE AVERAGE. AND HE HOPES THAT OFFICIALS WILL COME UP WITH A SOLUTION BEFORE IT GETS WORSE. WHEN I LOOK AT JUST, YOU KNOW, A DECADE AGO AND HOW MANY POLICE OFFICERS WE HAD PATROLLING THE STREETS, AND I SEE 40, 45, 50% LESS OFFICERS ON THE STREET, THAT’S A CRISIS. CONCERNS FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN TREADAWAY, FORMER ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE BIRMINGHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT. WE’VE KNOWN ABOUT IT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS WITH THAT, THAT DECLINE IN HAS HIT A CRISIS LEVEL, AND THERE’S NO PLAN CURRENTLY IN PLACE. HE SAYS HE KNOWS WHERE THEY SHOULD START. THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE TRANSPARENCY. POLICE OFFICERS ARE PAID BY TAX DOLLARS, TAX DOLLARS ARE PROVIDED BY THE PUBLIC. THEY NEED TO KNOW JUST HOW MANY POLICE OFFICERS ARE OUT THERE AND, HE SAYS KEEPING THOSE NUMBERS A SECRET TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC AND NOT RAISE FEAR IS A MISTAKE. WE’RE SEEING VIOLENT CRIME GOING UP. WE’RE SEEING JUST ABOUT EVERY CATEGORY OF CRIME GOING UP. SO SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE TO ADDRESS IT BEFORE RETIRING THREE YEARS AGO, TREADAWAY WORKED WITH BPD FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. WE KNEW HOW MANY OFFICERS WE HAD ON THE STREET, HOW MANY WERE IN THE ACADEMY WHEN THAT CLASS WAS FIXED AND THE FINISH AND HOW MANY WAS COMING TO THE NEXT ACADEMY AND WHAT WE WERE DOING FOR FUTURE CLASSES AND SINCE THEN, HE BELIEVES THOSE RATES HAVE SLOWED. WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO PUT IN A LARGER POLICE CLASS TO COMPENSATE FOR THAT. THEY’RE NO LONGER ABLE TO START AN ACADEMY CLASS LIKE WE USED TO DO IN THE YEARS PAST, WITH. 3545 OFFICERS. THAT HASN’T HAPPENED IN YEARS. THEY’RE STARTING POLICE ACADEMIES AS LOW AS FOUR, EIGHT, 11. THE DISTRICT 51 REPRESENTATIVE SAYS BIRMINGHAM POLICE PAYS THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PERSONNEL BOARD NEARLY $4 MILLION A YEAR TO HELP OUT WITH RECRUITMENT EFFORTS. WHERE ARE THEY? WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT THAT? WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO RECRUIT ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY? I HAVEN’T SEEN ANYTHING IN RECENT YEARS, EVEN THOUGH THE NUMBERS ARE DWINDLING AT A FAR GREATER RATE THAN WHAT WE’RE SEEING ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, TREADAWAY SAYS. THE ISSUE IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE IF IT’S NOT ADDRESSED. IF WE FULL PRESS CAUGHT THIS, WE’RE LUCKY TO GET BACK A THIRD OF THOSE OFFICERS IN THREE, FOUR YEARS. THAT’S HOW LONG IT TAKES TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN AND GET SOMEBODY QUALIFIED ON THE STREET TO WORK BY THEMSELVES. NOW, I DID REACH OUT TO THE JEFFERSON COUNTY PERSONNEL BOARD, BUT HAVE NOT HEARD BACK FROM THEM AT THIS TIME. I ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE BIRMINGHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT, BUT WAS TOLD THAT IT WILL NOT ADDRESS NUMBERS LIVE IN BI