Council President Wardine Alexander statement of violence reduction initiatives

“I wanted to clarify some statements that were made yesterday during our Council meeting in regards to conflict resolution.

During a discussion of several domestic disputes that have taken place recently in our city and led to the senseless deaths of several people, I made a comment that conflict resolution programs do not prevent these situations from happening in the home.

I want to be clear: I believe in conflict resolution and I believe in making sustained investments in violence intervention programs like Credible Messenger.

Over the last several weeks we’ve lost too many people to violence that started in their homes. As I stated yesterday, we are going to continue working with Mayor Woodfin on how we can bolster our support of these initiatives and we will be discussing this during next month’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Some of these programs are still in the early phases so it’s vital for the public to be able to receive an update about what the City is investing in and what our plan is to help curb violent crime in Birmingham. In addition to supporting our law enforcement officials, we have to continue to invest in resources and programs that residents can utilize in times of crisis. As we’ve said, you simply cannot police morality, and these violent acts we’ve seen lately have occurred in the home.

By fostering education, mentorship, and creating safe environments, we can strive towards a better future for our residents who feel like their only option is to turn to violence as a way to resolve their issues. In doing so, they often forfeit their opportunities for success in the future because they either lose their life or spend it in prison.

Something must change, and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Council and the Mayor’s team towards data-driven solutions to help prevent these violent acts from continuing in our communities.”