Labor Day weekend shootings a 'blow to our city,' mayor says

Woodfin was referring to the fatal shooting of 16-year-old William Edwards in East Lake on Saturday, and the injuries suffered by seven young people in a shooting at the Workplay events venue on Sunday.

The Birmingham Police Department is investigating these cases, according to Woodfin.

“But as a city we must realize this goes way deeper than arrests,” Woodfin told the council, using some of the same language he used in a news release on Monday, Sept. 3. “We as a city need to figure out a way to wrap our arms around our children.”

Adults need to be “more hands-on in a positive way with our children,” the mayor said.

Young people need to learn how to peacefully resolve conflict, according to Woodfin. “And if they do not come to us, we need to come to them,” he said.

“We literally have to go where our young people are,” Woodfin said, referring to such locations as schools, homes and detention centers.

Some of the young people who act out violently are learning that behavior from adults, according to Woodfin. “What images do we give off?” he said.

The mayor’s office and the police “are working fervently” to make the city safer but cannot do it alone, Woodfin said in the news release.

“I ask that you – parents, family members, mentors, community leaders and friends — connect with the young people in your lives,” he said.

“Listen to them,” Woodfin said. “Help them. Let them know that their life matters.”

OTHER BUSINESS

The council passed an ordinance authorizing Woodfin to execute a one-year agreement between the city — on behalf of the Birmingham Police Department — and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for Birmingham's participation in the Alabama Drug Enforcement Task Force and for distribution and receipt of funds and property forfeited as a result of ADETF investigations.

As part of the council’s consent agenda, members voted to authorize Woodfin to file the city’s application to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board of the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish a special purpose Foreign-Trade Subzone.