On Sunday, a Hoover police officer was shot with the suspect taken into custody after a standoff at The Hill apartment complex.
The incident was one of many in recent years in Alabama involving an on-duty officer, underscoring the dangers law enforcement faces.
While many potential factors contribute to the wave of aggressive behavior toward police, State Rep. Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) suggested synthetic drugs could play a role in irrational behavior.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" on Tuesday, Stringer, formerly the police chief for the City of Saraland, said a synthetic version of marijuana was a possible cause.
"I think what some of that is what is contributed to is called 'mojo,' which is a synthetic type of weed that people are smoking that is causing some psychological issues," Stringer said. "And probably some of the more violent and unreasonable people that I have dealt with have been using the 'mojo.' We are just having to deal with that, and a lot of the ones as a chief of police that I had to probate and send to mental health was ones that had prolonged use of mojo.
"That's a major problem, and it's really going around right now, being used along with fentanyl, and so we're trying to have to stay on top of that. That's also one of the more things where people are typically reasonable. Even your bad guy ain't going to — they know if they shoot a cop, all bets are off at that point. But when you get some of these that are strung out on mojo, they're unreasonable. They're not logically thinking."
Jeff Poor is the executive editor of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com, or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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