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Leadership matters. Leadership matters. My administration has taken pride from promoting from within. To provide hardworking employees *** chance to rise as well as serve. Michael Pickett has proven that. He's the son of Birmingham. *** product of Birmingham City schools and *** graduate of Miles College. If you're unaware, he has served. The Birmingham Police Department for more than 20 years. And so he's one of us, and today I am proud to appoint. Michael Pickett as the new chief of police for the city of Birmingham. *** season can tell you *** lot about an issue or *** person, and so allow me to share. What he's already done in Birmingham. For the first quarter of the year. Homicides have dropped 47%, the lowest in eight years. And we have *** 79% clearance rate on cases. And we're still clearing homicide cases from last year. Recruitment is up. We're happy to tell you that the April 7th class that starts next week. Will be the highest, largest class that is not highest, but the largest class in 10 years. But that's not it. Morale is up and relationships are stronger with our federal partners. The district attorney's office, the US Attorney's office, the sheriff's office, and the Fraternal Order of Police FOP. But perhaps most importantly, everyone. Chief Pickett leads from the front. Not from behind *** desk. When I say we're cleaning up the city, he's literally doing that. He's out in the field He is literally out arresting folks for illegal dumping. He's meeting with residents who have had their residents of their homes shot into. He's actually gone out into the field himself and tracked down the killer. And then he called for backup. This is what we define as fearless leadership from *** man who has *** true heart for the city of Birmingham. And we are very, very proud of the work Chief Pickett has accomplished. We acknowledge the job is not done yet. The job is just getting started. Under his watch, what we can say. Is Birmingham is already safer? And we're already more secure. And with that, I want to present to everyone Chief Michael Pickett. Thank you, Mayor. Good morning. I'm honored and humbled to stand before you today. As the next chief of police for the Birmingham Police Department. I want to thank Mayor Woodman for his vote of confidence in me. To continue to lead this amazing department of brave men and women. This moment is not just about me. It's about our city, our officers. And the community that we serve. Birmingham deserves *** police department that is proactive, professional. And people focused To the men and women of this department. You are the backbone of this agency. I want you to know that I will constantly work. To get you the resources, the training, and the leadership that you all need to be successful. Under my leadership, hard work will be recognized. Accountability will be upheld. And we will move forward together. To our community. You're not just residents, you're our partners, and quite honestly, we couldn't have had the success that we've had in the first quarter of 2025 without your help. Again, it's an absolute honor and *** privilege to serve the community that I grew up in. And I look forward to working alongside. Our officers And the folks in our community to make Birmingham safer. Thank you. Thank you, brother. We'll take any questions you may have. you've been with the department since 2004 at this time, what would you say is your proudest? Mhm That's *** tough one. Proudest moment, I would say this would probably be my proudest moment, uh, is, is, is, you know, first, the biggest challenge that I had, one of the, I've had *** series of challenges, the first challenge was uh Dealing with Alabama's first and only year one event, which was the World Games, uh, faced *** lot of challenges with that and that was *** *** *** success. So I was proud at that moment when we, we were able to clear the World Games without having an incident in Alabama's first year one event. Uh, of course, the next largest challenge for me, uh, was taking on the interim role. Um, it was something that that was not expected, but again, um, I always accept the challenge, uh, openly, and, uh, I think we've made some, some huge strides, but this, this I would say would be the the best accomplishments thus far. And what's your vision moving forward, especially as we head into the summer months when crime, particularly the homicide rate goes up here. Again, that's *** challenge, OK. So, uh, I'm excited about the direction that we're going, um. We've, we've gotten *** couple of things started so far with the 8 point crime plan, but we have more to roll out with that. So I'm looking forward to working with our, uh, other agencies that are that are in in this area of course Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, uh, we actually have to have *** meeting later on today with the sheriff and his leadership team, uh, to discuss the, uh, stolen vehicle task force that we're building out, um, so we have several things that are in place so we can make sure that everyone has *** uh *** safe summer as possible. We know things are gonna come up, but we'll be prepared. About the morale in the police department. What under your leadership as interim did you bring to the table to change? just said Yes ma'am, so essentially I went and met as with with *** lot of the precinct officers. I went to, you know, each of the units uh as best as I could. I'm still, I still have some work to do on that. I still have some more roll calls to visit. I'm looking forward to those, uh, but just to go out and talk to our officers and let them know, hey, we have *** plan in place, um, you're gonna be supported. I'm gonna get you the tools that you need, um, and allow you to just be able to police, uh, uh, in, in the best manner possible. Um, of course, our officers know they'll be held accountable, um, but, but they know that they will be appreciated and they'll be rewarded and recognized for the hard work that they do under my leadership. And also I feel like it didn't take that long. Yeah, I definitely can't answer that one. Homicide numbers are significantly down as as has been previously stated and so in the recent months we've seen *** lot of arrests for people who are affected. that That is *** portion of it, yes, ma'am. Chief, you grew up in the city. Yes. How has that helped? Your ability Job, you know the street, you know *** lot of the peoples college grad. How has that helped you be successful? So yeah, so, so one thing I've always said is I would not be an effective police officer uh if I was to be placed in, you know, for example, in, in China for example somewhere because I don't necessarily understand all of the culture in that community, but like you said, I'm from here, so understanding the people that are from this town, from this city where I grew up, um, it, it, it vastly helps you know how to communicate with people, you know how to respond, you know, uh, what they respond to, um, so that that that's *** huge part of it. Anybody else? Mr. Mayor. Yes Yes sir. History that made him the right man for this job. I think I started this press conference. I was telling you all that leadership matters. I guess there are 3 questions, right? I can I trust you? Are you committed? Do you care? Can I trust you? Are you committed? Do you care? I trust Michael Pickett. It turns out I'm not the only one to trust Michael Pickett. I made ***, I had *** conversation with non-individuals who are city councilors in the city. Who make up our Birmingham City Council. Into *** letter they're all excited about Chief Bicket being in his permanent role. And part of that reason is because they trust him. Chief Pickett has shown well prior to being in his interim position in the last 20 plus years, he is not only committed. To the men and women to his left and right who he has served with, but he's also committed to this community. And I think it's without question, he absolutely cares. I've had *** chance to work with him closely over the last 7 years and I can tell you his care for the men and women. Who served this community as police officers. His care for the citizens. Um, received *** text from him probably *** week and *** half ago. Because you know they've been doing shooting reviews and one of the shootings was um there was *** shooting into an occupied dwelling. And it turned out it was *** senior, um, elder in our community, uh, older black female, and he told me, I'm going to go visit her to understand more of what happened and why. They were able to make an arrest. Post his visit, sharing that information um down with officers, etc. That's *** testament of how much he cares for everyday citizens in this community. Um, that he is in the trenches on the ground leading from the front. And so because I'm easily able to answer those three questions. Trusting him, his commitment and caring for our people, the citizens, citizens of Birmingham. It's an easy choice. Thank you all so much. Appreciate everybody. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day.