Lee Styslinger III: Reducing Gun Violence in Birmingham Requires a United, Communitywide Front

(An Opinion)

Since our founding in Birmingham in 1929, Altec has seen the city go through a few turbulent times – times when our citizens were wracked by poverty during the Great Depression, times when our citizens were subjected to violence in response to their peaceful push for basic human rights. We persisted through those times, and Birmingham today is a much stronger community as a result. We learned from our past and are still building a better community where all people can be happy, healthy and fulfilled.

We are making progress on so many levels, but we are all troubled by the violence we continue to see in our community. There are too many young people killing and being killed, too many children caught in crossfire, and too many senior citizens afraid in their own homes.

This is a nationwide problem that requires a local communitywide solution.

Mayor Randall Woodfin’s team recently met with businesses to discuss these issues, and it is great that our city leadership is doing as much as possible to combat violence and crime.

These efforts are having an impact: Property crimes and violent crimes overall are down. Unfortunately, homicides have increased. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy for somebody’s family and for our community.

The mayor and his team have worked hard to prevent more tragedies through a smart, multi-faceted approach that includes targeted police activities, policy changes, partnerships, and prevention.

What’s Being Done

On the enforcement side:

The mayor led the charge to get changes to state law to give the city more tools to address problems related to exhibition driving, and the city’s Operation Knight Rider has led to 143 felony charges and the seizure of 86 firearms through July.

A city partnership with state and federal law enforcement has led to the arrest of 23 homicide suspects since May, not to mention 121 arrests for other felonies, including robbery and assault through July. Thanks to the inter-agency approach, multiple charges can be brought and they’re more likely to stick.

More recently, the city joined with federal officials to announce a program to target Glock switches, which are devices that can switch a handgun to a fully automatic weapon firing multiple rounds in a split second with awful consequences.

The city’s police officers are working hard to get all illegal guns off the street – seizing more than 1,000 so far this year – and the city continues to push for changes in state law to increase penalties and make it more difficult to obtain guns that will be used for unlawful purposes.

Mayor Woodfin’s administration has invested more than $30 million in programs specifically directed at the city’s young people, many of them offering the potential to reduce violence over the long term. One of my favorites is Birmingham Promise, which provides college and career opportunities to students in Birmingham City Schools. This program, launched by the mayor and still supported with city funds, has already helped 1,300 Birmingham graduates with college expenses and facilitated internships for 200 high school students. Programs like this help us break generational cycles of poverty that can fuel crime.

Other city initiatives include:

Funding for mental health support for students in Birmingham City Schools ensures that each school has counselors and crisis response teams. This is critical for young people who have experienced the trauma of violence involving their family members and peers.

A Safe Haven program in city recreation centers gives children a place outside of school where they can receive tutoring and life skills training and wholesome fun.

A school-based conflict resolution program called Common Ground offers guidance and supports for at-risk students. In addition to the potential long-term impact, this program showed almost immediate results. Male students in the program posted an 83 percent reduction in fights, a 60 percent drop in suspensions, and 56 percent fewer disciplinary actions and school absences.

A re-entry program called RESTORE helps teenagers with support and services after they are released from Department of Youth Services’ custody. This helps kids who have already gotten off on the wrong foot to get on a better path.

A partnership with area health care providers gives people who are hospitalized as a result of violence the opportunity to get mentoring and other services to help break the cycle of bloodshed.

Lend Your Support

I applaud Mayor Woodfin, whose family has personally experienced gun violence, for making this such a high priority for his administration and for having the courage to tackle a complex problem that defies simple fixes.

But even with all he is putting into this effort, it won’t be enough if we fail to do our part as citizens.

By all means, if you see something, say something. There are safe ways to report criminal activity; in fact, information from citizens is critical for our police officers. During the first six months of this year, anonymous tips to Crimestoppers helped bring about 157 felony arrests. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a police officer, get an application today. The City of Birmingham has struggled like departments across the nation to attract and keep officers. While we will never hire enough officers to be everywhere and prevent all violence, we can hire more to deter crime and give our residents a greater sense of safety.

Lend your support to the city’s efforts in other ways. Become a reading volunteer at a local school, host an intern at your business or invest in our young people in other ways. Know where your children are. Lock up your own guns. Care. When we as a community come together to solve a problem, there is nothing we can’t overcome.

Lee Styslinger, III serves on the boards of Altec, Birmingham Promise, Birmingham Business Alliance, Children’s Hospital, Regions Financial and Vulcan Materials.

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