Birmingham City Council member Crystal Smitherman said today following the mass shooting in Five Points South on September 21 that she has had enough of the killings in the city and called on Mayor Randall Woodfin to “take a tough approach against criminals.”
“I want the laws enforced, Mayor Woodfin,” she said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “I’m tired of feeling unsafe in my own city.”
Saturday’s mass shooting left four people dead, and the city is on track to record its highest murder rate ever this year.
“Do what you have to do, Mayor Woodfin,” Smitherman said.
“People are scared,” she said. “We need to make them feel safe again.”
The only ones who felt safe were the criminals, she said.
“They shouldn’t feel so safe committing crimes,” Smitherman said. “I’m outraged that they did that too, because you wouldn’t do that in Hoover, you wouldn’t do that in Vestavia. I know you wouldn’t. You slow down when you see Vestavia police, when you’re speeding, don’t you? You certainly do.”
Smitherman, the daughter of state Sen. Rodger Smitherman, said lawmakers need to take action and ban Glock switches and reinstate the permit requirement for handguns rather than allowing guns to be carried without a permit.
Birmingham’s population has been steadily declining for decades, and the increasing perception of crime will likely lead to more people leaving the city, she said.
“My frustration is that we are going to lose people,” Smitherman said after the meeting.
“My frustration is that grandmas don’t feel comfortable sitting on their porch anymore, that people don’t feel comfortable going out to dinner anymore. I get calls from people from different cities asking, ‘Are you OK?’ I hear about crime at the nail salon, the hair salon, everywhere. I’m sick of it because people feel so comfortable committing crimes. That’s what I meant. That’s so disrespectful to everyone who lives here.”
