Montgomery City Councilman Ed Grimes said on Wednesday that he supports legislation recently filed that sets minimum staffing standards for law enforcement agencies in Montgomery.
The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee held a public hearing on the bill on Tuesday.
The bill by State Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) would provide minimum staffing requirements for Class 3 municipal law enforcement agencies. Alabama has two Class 3 cities, Montgomery and Huntsville. Most of the discussion during Tuesday's public hearing on the bill centered on Montgomery. The bill will be voted on in committee next week.
The requirements would include a minimum of two full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents of the municipality. The bill would establish a five-year compliance period for municipalities not in compliance on the effective date of the act. During this compliance period, the municipality would be required to meet certain goals and increase staffing. The bill would provide that if a municipality fails to meet certain staffing requirements, the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency would be authorized to assume oversight of the municipal law enforcement agency. The bill would authorize the Attorney General to seek to recover any costs incurred by the state in overseeing a municipal law enforcement agency.
The Montgomery City Council voted to give bonuses of up to $15,000 to new Montgomery police recruits and current officers at Tuesday's council meeting.
Grimes told 1819 News that the bill would require Montgomery to improve its police staffing.
Grimes estimated Montgomery's current police staffing level is between 220 and 230 officers, while the bill would require Montgomery to be at around 400 officers or allow ALEA to assume oversight of the police department.
"I think the citizens of Montgomery deserve an adequate police force. With the new bill, it's not aggressive. It's going to give us a chance to get our force to those numbers. We made a big step last night by passing (police department bonuses). We should easily get our numbers up to a reasonable amount that we shouldn't be in danger of getting taken over," Grimes said.
Grimes continued, "We've got to get our numbers up."
"My favorite definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things and expect different results. We've got to change," Grimes said. "We'd see a marked difference if we had 390-420 police officers. It just goes without saying. Do I think that will happen overnight? We've been going down the hill for four or five years. We've got to start going up. It's going to make us have to get better. I think it will make us have to raise our game to get better. I think we've got great police officers. I think we've got a great bunch. I just don't think we have enough of them."
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Police Chief James Graboys oppose Barfoot's bill.
"Recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers is a challenge facing cities across Alabama and the nation. SB 298 imposes a one-size-fits-all staffing mandate and authorizes state operational control if that threshold is not met. That is a significant change to how public safety is governed at the local level, and we have serious concerns about its impact on municipal accountability," Reed said in a statement on Tuesday.
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