BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond and the United States Marshals Service held a news conference Thursday morning to address recent efforts to reduce crime in the city.
“All of us working together, we can come up with ideas and plans to reduce violence in our city,” Thurmond said. “And one of the things we just discussed is that you can’t arrest your way out of everything. There are some other things that have to take place in order for us to provide a safer city, a safer environment for everyone.”
Thurmond explained that the effort to reduce violence will take time, and that although the effort is still ongoing, he believes it has been successful so far.
Richard Kelly, Acting Associate Director of Operations for the United States Marshal Service, stated that the agency, along with the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, is committed to solve the problem of violent crime in Birmingham.
“As part of a leveraged effort across all of state and local law enforcement, we hope to be able to begin to make a dent in this. And certainly, we’re reliant on the people who best understand this problem, which is our presidentially appointed Marshal as well as the people that he partners with,” said Kelly.