# Birmingham Police Department

The Birmingham Police Department (BPD) is the police department of the city of Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States. The department operates in an area of 148.61 square miles across two counties (384.91 km$^2$) and a population of 212,237 people.

## History
### Founding and early history

When Birmingham's first city government took office in 1871 under Mayor Robert Henley, he appointed a City Marshal, O. D. Williams, to direct the efforts of two patrolmen, Robert Bailey and Henry Clay Atkins. Henley made himself available to assist with patrols if needed before he was forced to resign due to tuberculosis.
The second administration, under James Powell, took office on January 6, 1873 and installed W. G. Oliver as Marshal. He initially commanding a force of three patrolmen, Ed Taylor, Robert Bailey and A. Robinson, but the young department was expanded with ten new recruits over the course of that year. Those included W. L. Cantelou, Jule Wright, James Armstrong, William Harris, J. D. Lykes, M. Hagerty, William Clay, J. L. Ellison, W. W. Coxe and John Coxe. That force held strong for the next year, but was reduced back to five men, headed by E. G. Taylor, during William Morris' second administration in 1876. Under Thomas Jeffers's administration, it was reduced back to three, with Ben Plosser commanding William Seay and John B. Lewis. Plosser was succeeded by L. M. Teal in 1878.
Mayor A. O. Lane elevated the city government beginning in 1882. He brought W. G. Oliver back as Marshal and also appointed John Thompson to serve as Captain of Police, commanding officers G. W. Merritt, J. A. Brock, J. A. Mingea, W. S. Nelson, J. S. Barksdale, C. K. Dickey, G. J. Tomlin and T. P. Hagood. The annual payroll for the department was $540 in 1882. A new set of uniforms was required to be worn while on duty.
In 1884 Frank Gafford and O. A. Pickard succeeded Oliver and Thompson as Marshal and Captain, respectively. Gafford oversaw the organization of the city's first professional Fire Department in 1885. J. H. Mingea, J. G. Smith, William Burwell, J. B. Donelson, H. U. McKinney, T. J. Boggan, A. H. Maynor and James McGee were sworn in as new officers that term. The department's payroll for 1886 had risen to $970.
For Lane's third term, Pickard was elevated to City Marshal. Newly-sworn officers included J. D. Anderson, Charles Martin, J. M. Nix, W. M. Turner, W. J. Carlisle, A. L. Sexton, R. M. Saunders, W. H. Pinkerton, T. Z. Hagood, Richard Smoot Jr, James Turner, B. R. Childers, Thomas Hart, J. S. Oldham, O. M. Hill, R. H. McCullum and James Hillary. The city's expense for the salaries and operation of the department in 1887 reached $12,500.
The first Birmingham Police officers to lose their lives in the line of duty were George Kirkley and J. W. Adams, who were killed in a shootout following the robbery of the Standard Oil offices on March 27, 1900.
The Birmingham Police Department, with the help of U.S. Steel, vigorously investigated and targeted labor activities during the 1930s and 1940s. Information was fed to a "Red Squad" of detectives "who used the city's vagrancy and criminal-anarchy statutes (liberally reinforced by backroom beatings) to strike at radical labor organizers." In the 1950s, the investigations shifted from labor to civil rights activists.

### Racial integration

In 1963, the Birmingham campaign pushed for racial integration and faced violent responses from the police department, especially with the Children's Crusade. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail while under arrest in Birmingham during the Civil Rights protests. In 1966 the department hired its first ever black police officer, Leroy Stover, who suffered racial abuse in his first weeks on the force but went on to become Deputy Chief of the department. The second black officer, Johnnie Johnson Jr., hired the day after Stover, went on to become the city's first black chief of police. Johnson was appointed to the post by Richard Arrington, the city's first black mayor, in 1992.

## Organization
### Chief of Police

The Chief of Police is a sworn member of the police department appointed by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham. All members of the Birmingham Police Department report to the Chief.

#### Assistant Chief

The Assistant Chief reports directly to the Chief of Police and is also the commander of the Administrative Operations Bureau.

#### Internal Affairs

The Internal Affairs unit is responsible for reviewing complaints of officer misconduct. Internal Affairs reports directly to the Chief of Police.

#### Public Information Officer

The Public Information Officer's primary responsibility is to provide information to the public and the media regarding the department.

### Administrative Operations Bureau

The Administrative Operations Bureau consists of the Professional Standards Division and Support Services Division as well the Technology, Budget, Inspections, Grants and Parking Enforcement Units.

#### Professional Standards Division

The Professional Standards Division consists of the Payroll, Hiring, Accreditation and Training Units.

#### Support Services Division

The Support Services Division consists of the Records, Report Review, Property Room and Corrections Units.

### Field Operations Bureau

This unit was formerly called the Patrol Bureau. About half of all the policemen in the department are assigned here. It consists of the five police precincts, the Mayor's Security Detail and the Community Services Division.

#### Community Services Division

The Community Services Division consists of Officers Police Support for the Alabama State Fair,Youth Services, Crime Prevention Officers, Chaplains and Community Service Officers.

### Investigative Operations Bureau

The Investigative Operations Bureau consists of the Homicide/Robbery Unit, Crimes Against Property, Vice Narcotics, Special Victims Unit and Forensics Services.

## Rank structure

The BPD uses the following rank structure:
| Rank title | Information |
| Chief of Police | The Chief of Police is Commander of the BPD. |
| Assistant Chief | The Assistant Chief is Second-in-command. |
| Deputy Chief | Deputy Chiefs are Commanders of a Bureau. |
| Captain | Captains are Commanders of a Precinct or Division. |
| Lieutenant | Lieutenants are Shift commanders within a Precinct, assistant commanders of a Division, or commanders of a Unit. |
| Sergeant | Sergeants are Supervisors |
| Police Officer | |

## Chiefs of Police

Since 1871, there have been 34 appointed chiefs of the Birmingham Police Department. W.G. Oliver was appointed twice, serving from 1873 to 1875 and again from 1881 to 1882. Jamie Moore was the longest serving chief of police in Birmingham Police Department History, serving for 16 years.

## Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Birmingham Police Department in 1871, 47 officers have died in the line of duty.
| Rank | Name | Date of Death | Cause of Death | Age | Location |
| Police Officer | J. Wafe Adams | 03-28-1900 | Shot and killed along with Police Officer George W. Kirkley while attempting to arrest a suspect they saw commit a robbery | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | George W. Kirkley | 03-28-1900 | Shot and killed along with Police Officer J. Wafe Adams while attempting to arrest a suspect they saw commit a robbery | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | William P. Walton | 03-18-1902 | Shot and killed at the home of a suspect believed to have been part of an assault | 56 | On Morris Street, in between 8th Street and 9th Street |
| Policeman | James H. Mullin | 09-27-1903 | Shot and killed after arresting a man who brutally beat a woman in the street | 45 | N/A |
| Detective | Samuel H. Hamilton | 05-12-1907 | Shot and killed during a domestic dispute over child custody | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Willis A. Smith | 03-10-1908 | Shot and killed after stopping a suspect for questioning in the street | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | John W. Little | 11-07-1908 | Shot and killed while he and another Officer raided an illegal liquor den | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | George Clinton Eubank | 11-23-1909 | Shot and killed after a business owner supposedly mistook him for a robber | 36 | In the business district of Birmingham, Alabama; exact location N/A |
| Police Officer | Loner Denson Camp | 06-19-1910 | Shot and killed while attempting to arrest an illegal gambler | 25 | N/A |
| Patrolman | W.C. Wallace | 11-08-1910 | Shot and killed while attempting to arrest a man for carrying a concealed weapon | 23 | On 13th Street in Birmingham, Alabama |
| City Marshal | William Benjamin Morgan | 09-29-1913 | Shot and killed by a man he kicked out of a saloon earlier that day | 41 | N/A |
| Detective | Hugh Tully | 10-13-1913 | Shot and killed as he and two other Officers attempted to arrest a suspect for a stabbing 7 months earlier | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | John Aquilla Moore | 12-05-1913 | Shot and killed while he and his partner entered a house to investigate illegal activities | 27 | N/A |
| Officer | George A. Sims | 01-22-1918 | Shot and killed after getting on scene to a disorderly man call | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | John Dickerson Newby | 10-15-1919 | Succumbed to injuries sustained on 10-10-1919 after being shot in a dark alley after hearing shots | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | Sam P. Dobyns | 09-19-1920 | Shot and killed while raiding an illegal gambling house | N/A | N/A |
| Sergeant | Walter C. Hollums | 08-15-1923 | Struck and killed by a car while directing traffic | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Ray Payne | 02-12-1927 | Shot and killed while trying to break up a fight between 3 men | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Alexander A. Manley | 05-26-1927 | Shot and killed by a man he was talking to about his illegal parking | N/A | N/A |
| Motorcycle Officer | Elsie Turner Lewis | 03-03-1928 | Shot and killed while with his partner during a traffic stop with a car that ran a red light | 26 | N/A |
| Motor Scout | Henry Francis Mills | 08-08-1930 | Killed in a motorcycle crash | N/A | On Arkadelphia Road |
| Police Officer | Edward Lee Buckalew | 05-23-1931 | Killed in a car crash | N/A | N/A |
| City Warden | William Ira Latham | 10-24-1932 | Killed in a car crash while transporting a prisoner | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Dumas Froy Phillips | 04-23-1934 | Killed in a motorcycle crash after losing control while headed back from Pell City, Alabama for court | 40 | On Leeds Highway, 3 miles east of Irondale, Alabama |
| Police Officer | Forest J. Harris | 02-08-1935 | Succumbed to injuries sustained on 02-01-1935 during a shootout with robbery suspects | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | James M. Early | 04-15-1935 | Shot and killed after a robbery suspect, that he and other Officers were attempting to arrest, barricaded himself in a garage | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Homer Earnest Poore | 06-30-1936 | Struck and killed by a vehicle while on a traffic stop | N/A | N/A |
| Detective | James Tillman Moser | 01-31-1939 | Shot and killed with his own weapon while attempting to arrest an escaped death row inmate | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Edward Newton Wolff | 07-12-1941 | Killed in a motorcycle crash | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Fred R. Brockman | 11-03-1953 | Shot and killed after arriving on scene to a man with a gun call | 52 | N/A |
| Police Officer | Herbert C. Osborn | 07-24-1962 | Killed in a motorcycle crash | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Azell L. Harris | 05-04-1969 | Shot and killed while confronting 3 robbers at a local freight warehouse | 42 | N/A |
| Police Officer | Kenneth Lee Spencer Jr. | 07-13-1969 | Shot and killed with his own weapon after trying to kick a disorderly man out of a public swimming pool | 26 | N/A |
| Police Officer | Henry L. Thompson | 10-16-1972 | Shot and killed with his own weapon while trying to calm a disorderly customer at a bank | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Felix Underwood | 10-07-1973 | Shot and killed at a traffic crash by an emotionally disturbed person who killed a person before killing Officer Underwood | N/A | N/A |
| Detective Sergeant | William Stanley Jones | 08-09-1975 | Died from a heart attack while chasing a suspect | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | James Earl Rhodes | 03-11-1978 | Killed when another vehicle struck his motorcycle while he escorted a funeral | 32 | N/A |
| Sergeant | Albert Eugene Ballard | 11-29-1979 | Shot and killed while on a traffic stop with a possible bank robber | N/A | In downtown Birmingham, Alabama; exact location N/A |
| Police Officer | Edward K. Alley Jr. | 12-25-1980 | Shot and killed while attempting to arrest 2 convenience store robbers | 34 | N/A |
| Police Officer | Robert D. Patterson | 10-31-1982 | Accidentally shot and killed by a fellow Officer | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | Sharon K. Robinson | 04-07-1984 | Killed in a crash with Officer Marcus L. Reid while responding to a burglary call which was false | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | Marcus L. Reid | 04-07-1984 | Killed in a crash with Officer Sharon K. Robinson to a burglary call which was false | N/A | N/A |
| Police Officer | Frank H. Dunn | 10-14-1986 | Killed after hitting a tractor trailer that made a left turn in front of him | N/A | N/A |
| Officer | John Martin Huffman | 05-21-1992 | Killed after being struck by a driver under the influence of narcotics while on a traffic stop | 33 | On I-59; exact location N/A |
| Officer | Robert "Sande" Sanderson | 01-29-1998 | Killed by a bomb while working overtime at an abortion clinic | 34 | At 1001 17th Street S, Birmingham, Alabama 35205 |
| Officer | C. Robert Bennett | 06-17-2004 | Shot and killed along with Officer Harley Alfred Chisholm, III and Officer Carlos Winston Owens while serving a warrant | 33 | Near 18th Street and Avenue P in the Ensley community of Birmingham, Alabama |
| Officer | Harley Alfred Chisholm, III | 06-17-2004 | Shot and killed along with Officer C. Robert Bennett and Officer Carlos Winston Owens while serving a warrant | 40 | Near 18th Street and Avenue P in the Ensley community of Birmingham, Alabama |
| Officer | Carlos Winston Owens | 06-17-2004 | Shot and killed along with Officer C. Robert Bennett and Officer Harley Alfred Chisholm, III while serving a warrant | 58 | Near 18th Street and Avenue P in the Ensley community of Birmingham, Alabama |
| Sergeant | WyTasha Lamar Carter | 01-13-2019 | Shot and killed as he and his partner attempted to arrest two men who were trying to break into multiple vehicles around 2:00 A.M. | 44 | 900 block of 5th Avenue North near Chase Bays in Birmingham, Alabama |
There has been 1 Birmingham Police Department Officer killed while off-duty.
| Rank | Name | Date of Death | Cause of Death | Age | Location |
| Officer | Joseph Jerome Daniels | 11-18-2002 | Shot and killed while attempting to stop a robbery at a fast food restaurant | 31 | On Graymont Avenue at Reno Chicken and Burgers in Birmingham, Alabama |