Birmingham officials touted decreased homicides and increased police recruitment Tuesday as the City Council and mayor proclaimed June Gun Violence Awareness month in the Magic City.

“I just want to thank you all for honoring those survivors and those that work day to day on the ground to stop communities from dealing with the trauma of gun violence,” Uche Bean, director of community safety initiatives for the city, told the council. “I’m really excited today as we continue to work to keep our homicides down, to keep our gun violence down, and that we honor this day for those that have gone on because of this crisis.”

The proclamation comes as the city experienced a 46% decline in homicides compared to the same time last year. According to the Birmingham police data, Birmingham has had 33 homicides as of June 2, compared to 61 on the same date last year. Total violent crime increased by 6.7% to 961 incidents during that same time, however.

In response to Birmingham seeing its worst year on record for homicides in 2024, city leaders formed the Birmingham Crime Commission. The group produced a report in January detailing 82 recommendations for reducing violent crime. Mayor Randall Woodfin on March 25 told the council that of those 82 recommendations, 19 were in the planning and development phase and another 30 were in pre-launch or in progress.

Councilor LaTonya Tate, chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, also spoke before Tuesday’s proclamation. She said the city’s progress in the past year is due to the hard work of groups such as the Offender Alumni Association and the One Hood program.

“We’ve still got a ways to go, but we have made a tremendous impact in this city when it comes to reducing violence,” Tate said. “And remember the survivors and go visit these organizations, like OAA. I was just over there yesterday and it’s just some beautiful work that they’re doing over there.”

Woodfin also told the council Tuesday that the police department has increased the number of officers since November, going from operating at 73% of its workforce to 80%.

Woodfin said the police department currently has 149 officer positions vacant. However, the good news, he said, is that the next police academy class starts Aug. 4 and 184 candidates applied, with 112 already passing the physical screening.

At that rate, Woodfin said, the department will be at 100% workforce by the first quarter of 2026.

“I want to be very clear, this is not about quantity. This is about quality,” Woodfin said. “There’s a process. That doesn’t mean all 112 will make the next step. What it does show — whether it’s 112 who made it to the next step or 184 that have expressed interest in the August class — is that there is very, very high interest, and people not only want to be in public safety and public service, but they want to become Birmingham police officers.”

Closure of 20th Ave South at Richard Arrington Blvd

The council also Tuesday voted to set a public hearing for 9:30 a.m. July 15 to consider the closure of 20th Avenue South near its intersection with Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard to vehicular traffic to control traffic flow from neighboring businesses.

The intersection has the Vulcan National Building on the north side, a vacant lot on the south side and Vulcan Park on the western side of Richard Arrington Boulevard.

The hearing will take place during the regularly scheduled council meeting on the third floor of City Hall.

Budget Hearing Set for Wednesday

The council also is holding a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the proposed $591 million budget for the 2026 fiscal year. That meeting will be held in the Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall.

The mayor presented the spending plan to the council last month. The document includes spending increases in areas such as street resurfacing, public safety initiatives, services for unhoused residents and demolitions.