New Birmingham Police Chief says force needs more officers

Patrick D. Smith, who just took over the job of Birmingham Police Chief June 25 after 28 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, says the city badly needs to recruit more officers in order to fight crime.

“Right now, we are down 120 officers. That's a lot of police cars off the streets of Birmingham,” he told Iron City Ink on June 28. “We’ve got to fill our ranks. We’ve got to get qualified law enforcement officers on our streets. That is very critical right now.”

Smith, a Tuscaloosa native and former U.S. Marine who Mayor Randall Woodfin named as chief on June 4 after a national search, began with the LAPD as a patrol officer and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming police commander in 2015.

And he should have the skill set to effectively deal with staffing the department.

Among other duties with the LAPD, he ran three training academies and was in charge of part of the department’s hiring process — “making sure that we were getting good quality people into our police academy.”

Smith also comes to his new job in Birmingham after spending his career focused on crime reduction strategies and building public trust in the police, according to a city news release.

“Chief Smith is dedicated to bridge building,” Woodfin said in a statement. “He understands that a department is only as strong as the community it serves. As he works to build a better department, he will also be working to sustain public trust and bring real change to our communities.”

Crime reduction and community engagement “go hand-in-hand,” Smith said.

“You can’t just focus on crime reduction without involvement from the community,” he said. “The community has to know that they can work with this police department, that they can give information to the police department and receive information from the police.”

The BPD cannot combat crime alone, according to Smith. “We have to have support and involvement from the community — and in every aspect,” he said.

Smith encouraged citizens to take part in neighborhood watch and other programs and to set an example for the younger generation.

“Young people need to see an example of community involvement from us as adults,” he said. “They need to learn to engage law enforcement, communicate with law enforcement.”

The BPD must also try to assure the city’s residents that they will be protected, according to Smith.

“We cannot only address incidents of crime,” he said. “We must address the fear and let the community know that this law enforcement agency is working for them.”

In terms of dealing effectively with crime in Birmingham, Smith said he was “doing a full analysis of the department — where we are, what we need to do and and looking for total solutions.”

His experience in Los Angeles after 28 years has given him “a very big tool belt of things to pull from,” he said.

It is also important to avoid a “one-size-fits-all approach” and to realize that each of the city’s communities “is looking for something different from the police department,” Smith said.

For example, one area might have more property crime, another might have more violent crime and some areas may be facing quality-of-life issues, such as beautification or parking enforcement, according to Smith.

The chief also emphasized the importance of communicating and collaborating with other the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, other area police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies in order to fight crime.

“We can't do this alone. We need a more regional approach," he said. "Criminals don’t have boundaries and jurisdictions. Only law enforcement tends to go by that.”

There are some advantages in coming to the BPD as a outsider, according to Smith.

“To me it’s like taking a big flashlight and shining it in a dark room,” he said. “You now have a fresh set of eyes on what’s going on. You can make adjustments where needed. You can see things. Things pop right out that we need to address.”

The new chief acknowledged there are some larger societal causes of crime that go beyond simple policing.

“There are always social and economic issues within the community that we as a city must address,” Smith said. “We have got to create opportunities for people. We have to create a path for our young people so that they don't make bad choices as young men and young women in society.”

He was also asked if he felt there was enough money in the city’s recently passed Fiscal Year 2019 budget to allow him to begin properly staffing up the BPD.

“There will always be adjustments that we will have to make in terms of budgeting as we move forward,” Smith said. “As I conduct an analysis of the department, there are things that will come up where we will have to reallocate or ask for additional funding.”

In other recent BPD hires, Allen Treadaway, a department veteran, was named assistant chief on June 4. Captain Cedric L. Stevens, commander of the North Precinct and a 33-year BPD veteran, was named deputy chief of operations on June 8.