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Birmingham (AL) Homicides Drop by Double-Digits in Third Quarter of 2023

By Carol Robinson AL.com This is another installment in The Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series, “Beyond the Violence: What Can Be Done to Address Birmingham’s Rising Homicide Rate?” Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Birmingham finished the first three quarters of 2023 with a double-digit percent decrease in homicides over the same time last year. As of Sept. 30, Birmingham […]
The post Birmingham (AL) Homicides Drop by Double-Digits in Third Quarter of 2023 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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3 years ago

December 5, 2023

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As of Sept. 30, 2023, Birmingham has recorded 99 homicides. There were 112 homicides at the end of 2022′s third quarter.

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By Carol Robinson

AL.com

This is another installment in The Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series, “Beyond the Violence: What Can Be Done to Address Birmingham’s Rising Homicide Rate?” Click here to sign up for the newsletter.

Birmingham finished the first three quarters of 2023 with a double-digit percent decrease in homicides over the same time last year.

As of Sept. 30, Birmingham recorded 99 homicides. There were 112 homicides at the end of 2022′s third quarter.

That is about a 12 percent decrease from this time in 2022, a year that had the city’s highest number of homicides since 1991.

Of the homicides thus far in 2023, one was an officer-involved shooting by an outside law enforcement agency and seven others have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren’t deemed criminal.

In all of Jefferson County in 2023, there were 140 homicides from January through September, down from 150 at the same time last year.

There were 160 wounded in non-fatal shootings in the city, down from 262 during the first three quarters of 2022. That is a decrease of 40 percent.

“It’s a step in the right direction,’’ said Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond. “It’s not what I would want. We still have a lot of work to do, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

The city ended 2022 with 144 homicides, the deadliest in recent history and only a few homicides short of being the deadliest in the Magic City’s entire history.

Birmingham police do not include justifiable homicides in their statistics because they are not required to send those to the FBI for nationwide analysis.

Police also do not include the officer-involved shooting by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in their homicide numbers.

Homicides In Birmingham, By The Numbers:

Black males continue to account for the majority of the city’s homicide victims.

One white male, three Hispanic males and one Israeli citizen, according to BPD statistics.

Sixteen women have been killed — 15 of them Black. There were 19 women killed in the city in all of 2022.

Guns were used in 88 of the slayings.

Of the known weapons, 58 were handguns and 28 rifles. Two other victims died by blunt force trauma, and some of the weapons are still unknown.

The West Precinct – which has the largest coverage area of the city’s four police precincts – led in homicides with 32. East Precinct had 24, North Precinct, 23, and South Precinct, 11.

The majority of criminal homicides – 42 – took place between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The day shift – 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. – saw 27 homicides and the morning shift – 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. – had 22 slayings.

In the majority of the homicides, motive remains unknown. Of those that are known, six people were killed during robberies, and five each were killed in a fight, a domestic incident or in revenge.

Homicides With Juvenile Victims Are Down

The leading cause of Birmingham’s killings is the lack of conflict resolution, which has become a buzz term in violent crime discussions in recent years.

“People can’t get along,’’ the chief said.

The number of juveniles killed so far this year has drastically decreased.

Six victims have been ages 17 and under. There were 13 juveniles killed in all of 2022.

“We had a fairly big number last year and that number is down fairly significantly,’’ Thurmond said.

The chief said he would like to think that parents are becoming more involved, and making sure they know where their children are and what they’re doing.

“I would hope that would be part of it,’’ he said.

Here’s a look at the other age demographics:

– Ages 18 to 29 – 39 victims

– Ages 30 to 49 – 42 victims

– Ages 50 and up – 11 victims

“The age of our victims is a bit higher this year,” Thurmond said. “That’s troubling because those people should have enough sense to be able to get along or walk away or deal with those conflicts in a different way other than pulling out a gun and shooting someone.”

“I think people get so mad, so angry, they pull out the gun, but they don’t realize the ultimate repercussions of destroying two families, someone losing their life,’’ he said. “Even in situation where someone doesn’t lose their life, you’ve got those permanently affected for the rest of their life.”

“They have lifelong injuries to deal with, not to mention the mental trauma,’’ he said. “That doesn’t get focused on as much.”

It’s hard to explain the ebb and flow of homicides, and there are rarely definitive answers as to what can cause them to fluctuate.

“Violent crime has been our focus this entire year,’’ Thurmond said. “It was our focus last year.”

Joint Efforts Across Jurisdictions

One of the bigger things, he said, is the joint effort between the Birmingham Police Department and other area law enforcement agencies on all levels regardless of jurisdictional boundaries.

“We’ve been working together to fight violent crime,’’ he said. “That’s a huge thing.”

He pointed to the Areyelle Yarbrough case. Yarbrough was killed in 2021 Easter Sunday shooting at Birmingham’s Patton Park that also left five others injured.

Police officials last month held a press conference to announce an arrest in the case. Leaders from numerous law enforcement agencies were in attendance.

“It’s not about who leads what organization,’’ Thurmond said. “It’s about that we’re all committed to each other to violent crime regardless of what agency we lead.”

“The sheriff (Mark Pettway) and I committed to each other early to work together,” Thurmond said. “We’re looking for the same criminals. We’re dealing with the same people.”

“We’re much effective when we combine our resources,’’ he said.

The chief pointed toward the Violent Crimes Task force and its work on the violent street gang H2K, which has expanded into investigating other groups and individuals as well.

“It’s a force multiplier,’’ he said.

He said Birmingham’s officers are committed to the mission.

“The men and women out there in uniform are putting in the work,’’ he said. “They’re working hard and that’s a huge piece as well.”

VIP2 at UAB

There are other things in the city that are affecting those numbers, he said, such as the year-long pilot program Violence Intervention and Prevention Partners, or VIP2, at UAB Hospital.

The program provides violence intervention specialists who assist in the delivery of case management services, including meeting with survivors of gun violence, providing connections to social, medical and mental health services and monitoring survivors’ progress over time.

“It’s hard to measure as far as numbers, but I would have to think they’re having some impact,’’ Thurmond said. “If they prevented one murder, then it was worth it.”

It’s often said that police can’t stop one person from shooting another. The hope is to stop it before it gets to that point.

“You don’t often see someone go straight to committing a homicide,’’ the chief said. “Maybe there was another shooting that took place, like shooting into a car or a home or even shooting someone, and it’s solving some of those crimes before they get a chance to escalate to a homicide.”

Thurmond said a vast number of homicide suspects were involved in domestic violence incidents before becoming a suspect in a homicide. That, he said, is another way to get ahead of the curve.

“If we can be more effective in dealing with those situations, then we can the trigger pullers off the street before it escalates to a homicide,’’ he said.

“There’s no way the Birmingham Police Department is going to prevent anyone from shooting someone else. If that’s their mindset, that’s going to be hard to do,’’ Thurmond said.

“But if we can get them off the streets from other crimes, they won’t have the opportunity to kill someone,’’ he said. Thurmond said investigators continue to focus on, and rely on, technology to help fight crime, such as the department’s Real Time Crime Center.

“Getting more cameras throughout the city, more technology for our officers,’’ he said.

‘Three Months Can Make Us Or Break Us’

The highest number of homicides recorded in Birmingham in recent memory before last year was 141 in 1991.

The city’s all-time annual record for homicides was set in 1933 recorded when Birmingham had 148 slayings.

The lowest ever recorded was 56 in 1966. Birmingham came close to that with just 57 homicides in 2011.

“I know we can get there, to those years where homicides got down in the 50s and 60s,’’ Thurmond said. “That would definitely be a goal of mine.”

He said he can’t predict how the homicide numbers will look by year’s end.

“I feel very positive right now, but things can change very quickly,’’ he said. “We’re just going to keep working hard and pushing hard with the initiatives that we’ve been doing to hopefully stay at the decrease we’re at now, if not more.”

“Maybe we’ve figured out a few things,’’ he said. “Time will tell.”

Thirty-two people were killed in the city in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“Three months can make us or break us,’’ Thurmond said. “Hopefully we will be way below that.”

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The post Birmingham (AL) Homicides Drop by Double-Digits in Third Quarter of 2023 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: Jim Crow 2.0 at the Pentagon

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 3, 2026

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Pete Hegseth insists that he is restoring “merit” to the United States military. But after months of dismissals, blocked promotions, and ideological purges, the evidence tells a different story. His campaign against so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” has become something far more dangerous: an assault on equal opportunity that falls with particular force on African Americans, while also targeting women, Latinos, gay Americans, and transgender service members.

The latest example is both troubling and infuriating.

Once again, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked the promotion of an exceptionally qualified woman—Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt. Bauernschmidt is no ordinary officer. She became the Navy’s first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, one of the most demanding leadership assignments in the world. Her career reflects decades of exemplary performance, operational excellence, and leadership under extraordinary pressure.

Yet once again, a distinguished military career appears to have been subordinated to an ideological agenda masquerading as “merit.”

I call BS!

The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

The pattern has become impossible to ignore.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr., only the second African American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was dismissed despite a career that placed him among the most accomplished military leaders of his generation.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, was removed despite decades of distinguished command experience.

Reports have documented interventions that blocked or delayed the promotions of Black officers and women selected through the military’s rigorous promotion system.

Now Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt joins the growing list of highly accomplished officers whose careers have been derailed for reasons that have never been persuasively explained.

Where is Congress?

Its silence has become deafening.

Congress has an independent constitutional responsibility to oversee the armed forces. Instead, too many lawmakers have watched silently while one of the nation’s most respected institutions is subjected to ideological litmus tests and political interference.

This is not military reform. It is testosterone-fueled performative masculinity disguised as a philosophy of military excellence.

The irony is impossible to miss. Hegseth repeatedly invokes “merit,” yet his rhetoric begins with the assumption that Black officers, women, and other historically excluded Americans must somehow justify their achievements in ways that white male officers are rarely required to do.

That is not meritocracy. It is prejudice wrapped in patriotic language.

No one is asking that anyone be promoted because of race or gender. Americans simply expect that promotions be based on demonstrated competence, leadership, integrity, and service. The officers being targeted have already proven themselves repeatedly under one of the world’s most demanding evaluation systems.

Their records speak for themselves.

The attack on African American military leadership has been especially pernicious.

For generations, Black Americans fought in segregated units, earned decorations while denied equal treatment, and repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to a nation that often failed to extend them full citizenship. They broke barriers not because standards were lowered but because excellence finally overcame institutional discrimination.

Today’s campaign against “diversity” threatens to revive old assumptions under new slogans.

The implication that Black generals and admirals somehow owe their success to affirmative action rather than extraordinary performance echoes some of the ugliest stereotypes of the Jim Crow era. Yesterday’s segregationists claimed Black Americans were inherently less qualified. Today’s culture warriors simply employ more politically acceptable language while inviting the same suspicion about Black achievement.

That is why Hegseth’s campaign increasingly resembles Jim Crow 2.0.

The targets may now wear stars on their shoulders instead of military patches on segregated uniforms, but the underlying message is hauntingly familiar: Black excellence is presumed suspect, while white excellence is presumed earned.

America’s military became the finest fighting force in history because it opened its doors to talent wherever it could be found. It grew stronger after President Truman desegregated the armed forces. It became stronger when women assumed greater command responsibilities. It became stronger when every qualified American was given the opportunity to serve to the fullest extent of their abilities.

Diversity is not a concession. It is a strategic advantage.

The nation’s adversaries do not fear an American military because it is racially homogeneous. They fear it because it draws upon the talents of more than 340 million Americans whose diverse experiences, perspectives, and abilities make our armed forces unmatched anywhere in the world.

Every politically motivated dismissal of a distinguished officer sends a chilling message throughout the ranks: excellence alone may no longer be enough if you belong to the wrong demographic group.

That weakens morale. It weakens recruitment. It weakens retention.

And ultimately, it weakens national security.

Pete Hegseth has every right to pursue military readiness. He has no right to redefine merit in ways that repeatedly cast suspicion upon the accomplishments of Black officers, women, and others who have devoted their lives to defending this nation.

America deserves better. The men and women who wear the uniform deserve better. The Constitution deserves better.

And unless Congress finds the courage to exercise meaningful oversight, history may well remember this period not as a restoration of military excellence, but as the moment political ideology attempted to resurrect, in modern form, the old poison of exclusion.

Jim Crow did not strengthen America. Jim Crow 2.0 will not strengthen America’s military. It will only diminish it

Wade Henderson
Strategic Advisor
Civil and Human Rights
wade@wadejhenderson.com

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New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial

By Emilie St. John (Contributor) Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction. Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District […]
The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

By Emilie St. John
(Contributor)

Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction.

Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District Judge John Roach Jr. from overseeing the appeals process.

Two hearings have been scheduled on the motion for Aug. 9 and 10 in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, according to Fox4 News.

On July 14, Senior Judge Sid L. Harle of the 226th District Court was assigned to preside over the defense’s motion to recuse Collin County Judge John Roach. The assignment took effect immediately and authorized Harle to handle all matters related to the recusal request, the filing read.

The Collin County District Attorney’s Office continues to defend its handling of the case by issuing a statement to NBC 5 DFW.

“The defendant’s new lawyers have filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings. The entire prosecution team and I conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in a Court of law in the coming weeks. The jury heard extensive evidence over the course of the trial and returned a unanimous verdict. We remain confident in that verdict and the fairness of the proceedings.”

Anthony’s new legal team, made up of appellate, civil rights, and criminal defense attorneys, was retained following Anthony’s conviction.

“Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal,” the team said in a statement.

“We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events,” the release reads.

Anthony was charged with the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf during a track meet in Frisco, Texas, April 2, 2025. Anthony has long maintained it was an act of self-defense.

The attorneys are representing Anthony pro bono. The nearly 200-page notice of appeal seeks a new trial because his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

“The cumulative and practical effect of these provisions was to exclude members of the public from proceedings at every stage,” the filing reads.

The filing also focused on an alleged “handshake deal” that kept Anthony from taking the stand in his defense.

The defense filing said the agreement was that the jury would not hear that Metcalf and his twin brother had been accused of racism and bullying in the past. In exchange, they also would not see Anthony’s cellphone records or his school disciplinary record, according to court documents reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Anthony’s former defense attorney, Mike Howard, said the defense relied heavily on that deal. The team chose not to ask certain questions of witnesses or call on a separate expert witness based on that agreement. It also abandoned plans to introduce testimony and evidence about the allegations against Metcalf and his brother.

Appellate attorney Russell Wilson is now handling post-trial proceedings and Anthony’s appeal. He recently sat down for an interview, stating, “The court committed multiple errors during the June murder trial, preventing him from receiving a fair trial.”

“You know, we file motions that we expect to prevail on, but we understand that there’s two sides to every story. And at the end of the day, it’ll be a judge that has to make these decisions, but we feel confident in the positions that we’re taking,” Wilson said during an interview with WFAA. “There were substantial issues that we thought a reviewing court needed to look at. We thought these were constitutional irregularities, and we could have them addressed now. And so, we put them into a motion for a new trial.”

Bree West, a former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, found it startling that so little time was given to Anthony’s team for such a serious “life or death” situation.

“I do think that it’s really challenging that potentially a court decided that you have 10 minutes to make that level of decision when it has the potential of being life-altering,” said West during an interview with Fox 4 News.

Judge Harle is no stranger to high-profile cases, having presided over the prosecution of a police officer charged in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Anthony was convicted on June 9 of the murder of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump!

WESTSIDE GAZETTE — The author criticizes Donald Trump’s rhetoric, noting his use of terms like “Dumbocrats” and “Communist” to describe Democrats and democracy. The column asserts that Trump’s current strategy involves creating doubt about midterm elections due to a lack of Republican agenda.
The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

Frankly Speaking

Wow! Wow! Wow! The swamp drainers have truly stepped down to new levels of stupidity. You remember Weapons of Mass Destruction? We now have Weapons of Mass Distraction. Trump has introduced Dumbocrats and Communists into the conversation about Democrats and Democracy.

Trump lies so much, and his current strategy is to set up doubt about midterm elections because he and Republicans have no agenda!

He has no “Trump “ card, but Iran has a strait! He called it a skirmish; it’s now a War. He said five days; now it’s five months. He said few casualties; now it’s 18 deaths. He knew nothing about Project 2025 but hired its architects! Trump lies about the lies and often forgets these little inventions called cameras and phones

We see and hear and then see and hear the inconsistencies.

I didn’t like 45 and dislike 47 even more!

The post LSMFT! Lord Save Me From Trump! appeared first on The Westside Gazette.

Based on reporting by Westside Gazette.

The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.