An Alabama Senate committee on Tuesday delayed a vote on a bill that would let the state take over operations of the Montgomery Police Department if it doesn’t recruit more officers in the next five years.
The proposal from Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, raised concerns about state overreach and singling out the Capital City. Its mayor and police chief spoke against the bill during a public hearing, as did Democrat senators, including the one who represents most of the city.
Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, said he didn’t know about the legislation, filed late last week, until over the weekend.
“I represent 70% of Montgomery and I’m just hearing about this bill,” Hatcher told the Senate County and Municipal Government Committee toward the end of a nearly 30-minute public hearing.
Later in the day on the Senate floor, Barfoot publicly apologized to Hatcher for not communicating with him earlier about the bill. He also said he plans to keep pushing for its passage.
Alabama Daily News previously reported that Senate Bill 289 gives law enforcement agencies in Class 3 municipalities five years to have at least two full-time officers for every 1,000 residents. Huntsville and Montgomery are the only two Class 3 municipalities in the state, but the conversations have centered on Montgomery.
Barfoot said understaffing is a significant issue for officers he talks to and his bill is intended to increase public safety. If a takeover by the state were required, the city would have to reimburse the state for its costs.
Montgomery’s police staffing issues have been well documented in recent years, but Chief James Graboys said improvements in recruitment and retention are being made. This bill would be a setback, he said.
“Our partnerships with our law enforcement agencies are very strong and it’s going to continue,” Graboys said. “But this bill, it harms our morale. It creates controversy around the agencies that are affected.”
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said the city felt “singled out” by the bill and it is overreach by the state.
“Are we going to continue to work each and every day to try to hire the best and the brightest and recruit and retain them? Absolutely,” Reed said. “Do we need the state’s help in that? No, we don’t. We don’t need any help or any meddling by the state in our city hall. Quite honestly, I think our city hall’s run a lot better sometimes than the state. So we can handle our own issues. We can work together with our law enforcement agencies as we have done.”
The city also released a statement Tuesday opposing House Bill 36 by Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road. That bill would allow the Alabama governor or attorney general to appoint interim police chiefs in chronically understaffed departments. That bill has not yet received a committee vote. Reed sponsored a similar bill last year.
Barfoot said he’s not trying to pit the state and Montgomery against each other.
“The only turf war that’s there is good guys versus bad guys, and one way to control that is for the state to be a supplemental factor to help municipalities, in this case, Montgomery, and their recruitment areas.”
Hatcher and city officials said ALEA has its own staffing issues to address.
A comment from the agency about trooper numbers was not available Tuesday afternoon. Similarly, a request to the city about officer levels did not receive a response.
Hatcher and other Democrats asked that an expected vote be delayed.
Committee chairman Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, agreed. He told Barfoot it would be back before the committee next week.
“I should have let it marinate a little bit before putting it on the agenda,” Elliott said.