State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road) took aim at Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and other Montgomery leadership, announcing plans to file legislation allowing the state to appoint a police chief if a municipality's crime rate exceeds a certain level.
Over the weekend, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed's chief of staff Chip Hill took to social media, asking followers to contact Ingram about a bill that Ingram teased towards the end of the 2024 legislative session.
Ingram never filed the bill, but according to WSFA, Ingram wanted to address holes in the state's 2022 constitutional carry legislation. The bill would require someone to be 21 to conceal carry. They would also have to pass a hunter safety course or get a permit from the sheriff's office, according to WSFA. Ingram said the bill would allow police to confiscate a firearm until a person can prove they are of legal age to own it. It would also allow police to run a search and make sure the gun isn't stolen.
Ingram told 1819 News he didn't know where the out-of-the-blue posts from Hill came from and that he doesn't plan on filing the gun bill in 2025. Instead, he intends to pre-file legislation in the coming weeks to allow the state of Alabama to take control of Police Departments when the crime rate reaches a certain threshold.
Ingram said he has asked Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special legislative session specifically related to crime since leaders in some Alabama cities don't seem overly concerned about the issue, referring to Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed.
"I don't think that constitutional carry has had a bearing on crime," Ingram said. "The problem with crime is that a lot of the leaders in some of these municipalities don't take crime serious."
"When you've got some of these municipalities in this state that are almost 40% down on law enforcement, and some of your mayors are traveling around, going around to Washington [D.C] and being on board of this and that, and they don't stay or even show up to city council meetings, it's hard for them to know what's really going on and to take a priority for public safety."
According to Ingram, the bill is currently being drafted and will apply to all municipalities. If a city surpasses a yet-to-be-determined level of crime, the state would appoint a police chief in that municipality. A city could also lose funding if they refuse to comply with the bill's provisions.
"If you fall above a certain category of crime, per capita, then the state would do what you would do in a school: if you fall below a certain grade level or if you fall into a financial hardship, the state comes in and takes it over. Well, this bill will be to where we, the state, would take over the top position in that police department until we get crime under control. It would be up to ALEA and the attorney general to determine that level. It will be spelled out in. the bill, but a lot of things go into a formula: shootings, whether it be a homicide or whatever, so a lot of that will be at the discretion of the attorney general in this bill."
"We cannot as a state sit back and watch this happen. To let crime get out of control in these municipalities because the city pays nothing when these guys and girls are convicted. The state pays 100%. So we have to build new prisons. We have to hire new corrections officers. We have to pay for all their meals and their medical. The expense is on us for the lack of leadership in some of these municipalities."
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Ingram said that a state-appointed police chief would not be accountable to the mayor of the city in which they are appointed; they would only be accountable to the attorney general and ALEA.
"The mayor will totally be out of control of the police department until [crime] falls back into a justifiable level," Ingram said.
Ingram was perturbed and confused by Hill's social media posts, specifically because they seemed to suggest that Hill was trying to pass the buck for the rampant crime in Montgomery.
"I don't have a clue what he was thinking," Ingram continued. "I think he's trying to pee on anybody's leg, or the city is, to make it look like it's not their fault. This is nobody's fault but the leadership in the city of Montgomery. And they're not the only city that has a hard uptick in crime by a long shot, but there are a lot of people in this city. There's a lot of state employees. There's a lot of employees that work at Hyundai and other large employers. They may not live in the city, but they have to work and shop in the city. And there's a lot of those people that are upset too. Some of them went to the city council to speak, and they were told they didn't have a right to speak because they didn't live in the city."
Ingram also expressed dismay at Montgomery's leadership for bringing him five bills for the 2024 legislative session, none related to crime.
"This city brought me five bills this year, and all five were about how the mayor can take more control over different departments," Ingram said. "He wants the full authority over the water and sewer, which not all of the water and sewer is in the city of Mongtomery. He wants full authority over the Airport instead of the city council making appointments. He wants full authority over the IDB [Industrial Development Board] and the Housing Authority. And he wanted a $50,000 raise. I did not allow any of that to pass. [Reed] did not bring me anything on crime. He didn't bring nothing that would help crime at all. He brought everything to give him more control, and we stopped every bill there was."
He continued, "I think the leadership of Montgomery needs to pay more attention to crime than they are staying in Washington or serving on some kind of board. He has not been to the last two city council meetings because he's been out of town. He was in Washington; he was in New York. He's always somewhere. If he stayed here and stayed plugged into what's going on, he could probably do a better job, but he's not. He's doing a horrible job of leading this city. And the buck stops with him. Nobody is blamed for the crime that happens in a city except for the top leader in every municipality."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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