Birmingham police chief announces plans to retire, month after city’s third mass shooting this year – wvua23.com

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM (AP) — An Alabama police chief announced plans to retire Thursday, a little more than a month after a mass shooting renewed scrutiny of the department’s efforts to quell rising gun violence and homicides.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond, 50, announced at a news conference that he will step down at the end of November, two years into his tenure as the historic city’s top cop.

“It’s not an easy decision,” said Thurmond, who has spent more than half his life with the Birmingham Police Department. Thurmond did not give a specific reason for his choice, but said he “had to do what was best for me and my family.”

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin applauded Thurmond for his “commitment to our city, his commitment to the men and women he has led.”

In late September, Birmingham was thrust into the national spotlight after a mass shooting outside a nightclub left four people dead and more than a dozen others injured. Between January and September, there were 122 murders in Birmingham, the majority of which involved guns.

The shooting has renewed criticism of the police department’s handling of gun violence across the city, which is on track to break a 91-year-old record.

“For more than a year, Thurmond has failed to develop and/or properly implement a plan that would have reduced the number of murders and mass shootings in Birmingham,” state Rep. Juandalynn Givan said in a statement shortly after the mass shooting in September.

Thurmond said he began considering his departure months ago and that his decision had “nothing to do” with recent events or criticism of the department.

Last week, the Birmingham Police Department arrested and charged a 22-year-old man with murder in connection with the mass shooting, the city’s third this year.

At the press conference, the mayor described the “last couple of weeks” as “incredibly challenging” and praised Thurmond for making quick arrests related to the mass shooting.

At the news conference, Woodfin also cited a recently approved $16 million program that, among other things, would help hire more than 170 new employees to address the department’s shortfall.

The mayor tapped Deputy Chief of Special Operations Michael Pickett, who has served with the department for two decades, to be interim police chief after Thurmond retires next month.