By james art Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond is stepping down, more than two years after taking over as the department’s top cop, city officials announced Thursday.
Thurmond notified Mayor Randall Woodfin of his retirement earlier this week. He has accepted a position at another police department.
“The timing is right,” Thurmond said. “The police department will be in very good hands.”
Deputy Chief Michael Pickett will serve as interim chief. Additionally, Capt. Edmund Hanks was promoted to interim assistant chief.
“Birmingham is my home,” Pickett said. “I was born and raised here. I love this city.”
Woodfin appointed Thurmond to the chief position in June 2022. He was interim chief for the five months prior to his appointment.
Birmingham Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett and Assistant Chief Edmund Hanks at a press conference on October 24, 2024.Carol Robinson
“The past few weeks have been incredibly challenging and our team at City Hall and the Birmingham Police Department will work tirelessly to keep Birmingham a safe place to live, work and play,” Woodfin said at a press conference Thursday.
Pickett, a two-decade law enforcement veteran, is a dedicated public servant and innovative public safety strategist, Woodfin said. Hanks is a second-generation Birmingham police officer and has served for 33 years, including leadership roles twice as captain of the North Precinct, Woodfin said.
“The good news is that none of the leaders standing before you are strangers to each other…..We are proud that our bench strength is strong at BPD and that – once again – we can rise from our own ranks,” Woodfin said.
“I am convinced that we will achieve the expectations that we and the resident have. Each of these leaders has been handed a clear directive to grow this department, reduce gun violence and homicides, and usher in the policing of the future,” Woodfin said.
Thurmond replaced former Chief Patrick Smith, who unexpectedly resigned after more than three years at the helm.
The state’s largest fraternal order of police earlier this year announced it was considering a vote of no confidence in the department’s leadership, citing a lack of leadership, low morale and other problems.
FOP Lodge #1 consists of between 1,350 to 1,400 members – 80 to 90 percent of those of the Birmingham strength.
“We are not getting the leadership we deserve and neither are the citizens of Birmingham,” FOP Vice President Lawrence Billups said in June.
“We have a divided administration,” he said. “We have a chief who basically goes around saying he has no control over his department.”
“We don’t have anybody to lead us, to give us direction,” Billups said.
FOP leaders, who issued a historic vote of no confidence against Smith in 2021, did not vote for Thurmond. Leaders said they met with city officials and felt encouraged to move forward.
A Birmingham activist and state lawmaker also called for the chief to resign. Those calls came after a mass shooting in September in Five Points South that left four people dead and 17 injured.
Thurmond said his decision was months in the making and had nothing to do with comments from state officials.
Thurmond is a 25-year veteran of the force, having served and led in several districts as well as executive leadership.
Under his leadership in 2020, the Western Precinct created a special task force that successfully increased taking guns off the streets and focused on high engagement and case tracking, which led to greater solvability, Woodfin said at the time of Thurmond’s appointment.
As a result, residents saw a 25 percent reduction in crime in the West Precinct.
Thurmond began his career with the North Precinct Patrol Division where he served the Titusville and Smithfield communities from 1999-2005 as a police officer and field training officer.
Two years later, in 2007, he was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the patrol division’s West Precinct morning shift.
In 2008, Thurmond was transferred to the Homicide Division of the Bureau of Investigation and worked there as a sergeant until 2013, when he was then promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
In 2015, Thurmond returned to the homicide unit as commander.
In 2018, he became the interim commander of the newly formed Robbery/Homicide Unit, which consists of seven separate units: Homicide Unit, Felony Unit, Robbery Unit, Crime Reduction Team (CRT), Project ICE, Intelligence Unit and sex offender unit.
In 2019, Thurmond was promoted to the rank of captain and serves as the patrol bureau’s western division commander.
Before becoming chief, he was executive assistant to the deputy chief of the Bureau of Investigation.
Thurmond, who graduated from the University of Montevallo with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in political science, said he always dreamed of being a police officer.
This is a developing story and will be updated.