MONTGOMERY — Attorney General Steve Marshal held a memorial for the three fallen Alabama law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty last year during the 24th Annual Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Summit.
The memorial commemorated Huntsville Police Officer Garrett Crumby, Alabama Port Authority Police Officer Kimberly Sickafoose and Montgomery Police Department Officer Carlos Taylor.
Marshall led the memorial, which included a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace from a player who traveled through the halls of the Church of the Highlands building where the summit was held. The memorial drew somber silence from everyone in attendance, with others openly weeping.
After the ceremony, Marshall spoke on what the summit provided Alabama law enforcement and his experience dealing with families of fallen officers.
“This is the largest gathering of law enforcement that we have collectively in the state. I think it’s important for me as the attorney general to make sure that we pause during training to honor our fallen officers,” Marshall said. “Clearly, it’s a significant loss for the communities across our state.”
He continued, “I think it’s important that we recognize and understand the sacrifice that those who allow their family members to be able to work in a dangerous profession like law enforcement, and then we continue to lift them up when they’ve lost a loved one.”
The summit provided continuing education training for law enforcement and attorneys around the state. Participants had the opportunity to hear from experts involved in the much-publicized Murdaugh murder case in South Carolina. They also received training on the newly implemented Alabama Criminal Enterprise Prevention Act, which created enhanced penalties for those involved in a criminal enterprise.
Additionally, the summit provided training on other recently enacted state laws that affect crime and policing.
One such law, The Deputy Brad Johnson Act, amended the state’s correctional incentive time laws, commonly called “good time laws,” allowing inmates to accrue time off based on their classification and time served. The bill was named after a slain officer killed in 2022 by a released inmate with a lengthy history of criminal activity, including a prison escape.
“We’re very excited with what we’ve heard from law enforcement about the tools that were obtained in the most recent legislative session,” Marshall said. “Our office was behind the Criminal Enterprise Act. To make sure that we can attack gang violence in communities, to be able to establish minimum times to be able to serve as well as mandatory minimums for gun crimes. Not only that, but we’ve been able to rectify the true problems with our good time law. We didn’t need the tragedy of losing Deputy Brad Johnson to do it, but yet that became the impetus for that change, and so we’ve been very encouraged by the feedback we’ve been given. We’re training about it today.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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