Joint Operation Between Birmingham Police and U.S. Marshals Leads to Capture of 23 Homicide Suspects Since May

Nearly two dozen homicide suspects have been arrested since May through a new initiative by the Birmingham Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.

In response to the city’s ongoing struggle with rising crime, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has urged police officials to develop innovative strategies to address the issue.

“We’re always looking at how to strategize, how to be more effective at what we do,’’ said Police Chief Scott Thurmond, “and how to provide a safer environment for all of our citizens.”

Thurmond and Northern District of Alabama U.S. Marshal Marty Keely held a press conference Thursday to discuss this recent crime-fighting strategy. They were joined by over a dozen other law enforcement and government leaders.

Thurmond acknowledged the historical rise in crime during the summer months and described the plan they formulated to combat this increase.

“Where we’ve had success before is getting offenders off the streets before they can continue to reoffend,’’ he said. “The people who are the best at making those arrests are our partners at the U.S. Marshals Service.”

The U.S. Marshals Service in the Birmingham area includes the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

“We wanted to target those who are the most prolific violent offenders, and in doing that we compiled a list of those offenders,’’ Thurmond said.

The result, Thurmond stated, has been the arrest of 26 individuals since May 10 who were wanted in connection with homicides. Although these names have not been released, Thurmond noted that not all the arrests were related to Birmingham cases; some involved murder suspects wanted in other jurisdictions throughout Jefferson County and beyond.

Overall, there have been 121 felony arrests, including the 23 homicide suspects. Among these, 21 people were wanted for robbery, 22 for sexual assaults, and 17 for aggravated assault. Authorities also seized 20 guns during this period.

“We may have someone from another state who is here, and if they committed a murder in another state, what are they going to do here?” Thurmond questioned. “So, we want to get them off the streets, get our victims some justice, and get some peace for our community members. It’s a lot bigger picture.”

Thurmond believes this initiative has positively impacted the safety of Birmingham’s citizens.

“If those individuals had been allowed to be on the streets of Birmingham, what would crime have been like if they had been allowed to continue to do what they do every day?” Thurmond said. “I honestly believe this had had an impact on the safety of citizens in Birmingham.”

Keely emphasized that the initiative is ongoing.

“This doesn’t stop today,’’ he said. “They’re on the streets at this very moment …doing everything they can to reduce violent crime and take the individuals responsible for violent crime off the streets.”

Before the press conference, an hour-long private summit was held, gathering individuals from all areas of law enforcement, city and county government, and beyond to discuss public safety issues and the root causes of crime.

“You can’t arrest your way out of everything,’’ Thurmond said. “There are some other things that have to take place in order for us to provide a safer city.”

“This group and many others are committed to doing that,’’ he added. “As one of our colleagues said in the meeting, it takes time. We didn’t get here overnight and, unfortunately, we’re not going to get out of this overnight.”