This week, State Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) presented SB298, which would allow the state to intervene when police departments fail to meet minimum staffing standards. As currently written, the bill would apply to Class 3 municipalities only, namely, Huntsville and Montgomery. Barfoot has made clear that he wants to protect his constituents in Montgomery.
As chief counsel to the attorney general, I've spent considerable time working with Barfoot and State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road) on solutions to Montgomery’s crime problems. I was asked to speak to the committee on Wednesday and listened to the bill’s opponents unwittingly outline the deep ideological divide over public safety and policing.
After Barfoot explained that the goal of his legislation was to increase police presence in Montgomery, State Sen. Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) argued that “the idea would be that somehow or another if you have this plethora of officers, it’s going to somehow diminish crime, that piece we know is not true.” (This is the same senator who proposed allowing the City of Montgomery to impose an occupational tax to be used for healthcare and infrastructure, and to “bolster public safety.”) “We don’t need any help or any meddling by the state in our city halls,” Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed later said, testifying against the legislation.
These two statements are objectively false.
The Montgomery Police Department is critically understaffed. Although the department is full of dedicated men and women, the city does not have the needed officers to patrol neighborhoods, respond to calls, and deter crime. This occurred on Reed’s watch.
While it is true that recruiting challenges are not unique to Montgomery, it is far more difficult to recruit in an environment where officers are asked to patrol high-crime areas with no guarantee that the city will have an officer’s back if things go sideways – and they will.
Still, the state hasn't been standing by while this has unfolded. Since the summer of 2024, the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit (MACs) – a partnership between ALEA, the attorney general's office, the Montgomery Police Department, the Montgomery sheriff’s office, and ATF – has served thousands of warrants, made hundreds of arrests, and seized significant quantities of drugs. Though the partnership has been successful, it was not designed to be a long-term substitute for a fully staffed police department or strong city leadership.
The Alabama Legislature, in partnership with the attorney general’s office, has also racked up an impressive list of new laws making our criminal justice system more honest and accountable, less tolerant of repeat offenders, and more responsive to the plight of crime victims. We’ve given officers more protection, prosecutors more tools, and judges more hammers. But these state-level solutions will never be an adequate substitute for actual police officers out on the beat.
How should the state react when any city – especially the capital city – continues electing leaders uncommitted to public safety? Should state-level Republicans bail out a city that continues to elect soft-on-crime Democrats? Or should the state, as Reed suggested, defer to a municipality’s “home rule”?
Barfoot and Ingram believe they can’t look away, and I have and will continue to support their efforts. They know that Alabama’s local governments are agents of the state. When those governments fail to protect the people, the state has no choice but to “meddle.” To quote author Heather Mac Donald, “it is a profound injustice to deny the residents of high-crime communities the police presence that could save their lives.” SB298 is one solution to this injustice, and HB36 (allowing the attorney general to appoint a distressed city’s police chief) is another.
If Reed wants the state to stay out of his city’s business, then he should immediately admit he has a problem and publicly embrace a pro-law enforcement, pro-law-and-order philosophy – not as a political concession, but as an acknowledgement that it is the only way to salvage his legacy and protect his constituents. If he won’t, the Alabama Legislature – with bipartisan support – should give the state every tool it needs to fill the void. The people of our capital city deserve nothing less.
Katherine Robertson serves as Chief Counsel to Attorney General Steve Marshall and is a candidate for Attorney General.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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