Alabama Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter is setting his sights on the growing crime problem in the state’s major cities, saying Wednesday on “The Jeff Poor Show” on FM Talk 106.5 that public safety will be a priority for he and his colleagues during the upcoming 2025 state legislative session.
“One of the issues we’ll be facing is crime,” Ledbetter said. “The Birmingham, Montgomery areas are seeing more than their share this year…And I see that Mayor Woodfin is addressing it and trying to attack it. We’ve talked to him, and you know, we will be working with him and working with ALEA and some other folks, and probably will come up some packages of bills to try to help that problem.”
The issue of crime in Birmingham gained national attention recently after a mass shooting in the city that killed 4 people and injured more than a dozen. Career criminality was at the root of the situation, authorities have indicated.
“I think people in the state of Alabama with the growth we’re having, they should feel safe,” Ledbetter argued. “They should feel safe walking up and down the streets or going to the restaurant or or wherever they’re visiting. So that’s one thing we’re going to work on and see how that comes out.”
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Earlier this year, State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road) pre-filed a bill that would allow the governor or attorney general to appoint an interim police chief in municipalities where crime has seen a dramatic increase.
Ledbetter has not endorsed Ingram’s bill and didn’t get into specifics on what legislation he would support, but did say he hopes they’ll be able to accomplish something meaningful.
“We’ve met a couple of times with different people across the state and got some ideas from different departments, so we look forward to addressing that,” he explained. So that’d be an issue that we’ll be addressing.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
