Birmingham City Council

Hearing Wednesday Let Residents Have Their Say on Violent Crime, Council OKs Indy Grand Prix Funding.

Source: Gerd Altmann, Pixabay
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The public asked questions about efforts to dampen violence and made their own suggestions for shaping a safer Birmingham during a community feedback session Wednesday.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the City Council during its meeting on Tuesday that the session would take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Birmingham Crossplex and would be streamed virtually.

Woodfin said the meeting was to get feedback on the city crime commission report presented in January and give residents a chance to bring their ideas for reducing violence. The community plan for reducing violence will be developed and implemented as the city gathers more input.

The commission’s report detailed strategies to reduce violence in the city, which had a record-breaking year for violent crimes in 2024.

Woodfin gave councilors an update Tuesday on the social services piece of the violence reduction strategic plan. Plans previously discussed to set up hospital-based intervention teams to work with victims of violent crime or their relatives in emergency rooms and to put teams in communities to provide street outreach will be launching their programs or training in the next month, he said.

He also said the Magic City Peace Collective has been meeting every other week to work on community-driven strategies. That group is made up of grassroots sources, service providers, law enforcement, public entities and city agencies to develop and implement effective violence reduction strategies.

On the law enforcement side, Woodfin said the Birmingham Police Department has an unusually high 75% clearance rate on crimes committed so far this year, as well as continuing to solve cases that happened last year.

Indy Grand Prix Funding

In other business Tuesday, the council approved providing incentives of up to $350,000 for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix events at Barber Motorsports Park. The council approved an agreement with ZOOM Motorsports to manage the event, which brings in spectators and contestants from all over the world and has an economic impact of more than $30 million in Birmingham.

“This is one of the largest economic development events in the entire state when we’re talking about how many countries are involved. People from nearly 20 countries have participated and attended this race and people from 48 states have purchased tickets,” said Councilor Hunter Williams, chair of the Economic Development Committee. “This is a true international event, and that’s what sets it apart from others we host here. The Barber Motorsports Park is a huge asset for us here in Birmingham.”

The grand prix will take place May 2-4.