Birmingham, Alabama is 69 percent black and 24 percent white. It’s one of America’s most violent cities. Somehow, the city has a white police chief, who just begged the black community to disengage from the ”stop snitching” mindset and help police solve murders.
Birmingham police chief: ‘Residents haven’t had enough yet,’ don’t cooperate in homicide investigations, by Taylor Lang and Emma Owen, WVTM13.com, March 20, 2024
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —The Birmingham Police Department believes the people in the city aren’t tired of murder, or they would be cooperating as witnesses. There have been 13 homicides in March so far, with eight in a single week.
Police Chief Scott Thurmond said all it takes is one person coming forward with a small piece of evidence to help units solve the puzzle. But since people aren’t doing that, he said they must be fine living with the city the way it is.
“Our residents haven’t had enough yet,” Thurmond said.
Witness cooperation is the main problem in solving cases, he noted. He brought up the case of Mahogany Jackson, in which eight people were arrested because of people coming forward with evidence.
Thurmond pushed for people to provide access to the department through Birmingham Connect, stating that there is no need for people to be concerned about security. He made it clear that they only want to know what happens around peoples’ homes.
“The silence that happens in this city is unacceptable,” Thurmond said.
While there is little cooperation, all of the deaths could have been prevented had people not been involved in “nefarious activities,” according to police.
“We continue to work hard,” Thurmond said. “But the foolishness that continues to happen in our city is absolutely ridiculous.”
There have been 28 criminal homicides in Birmingham this year. Police said most of these have been because of the life choices people have made.
Reality check: white people left the city they built long ago, and rebuilt Birmingham across the mountain in Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, and Hoover. Black people will follow them, but if white people try and return to Birmingham (gentrification), they’ll get harassed for engaging in racist residential practices.
After all, high rates of black crime keep white people from living in areas long established as food deserts.
