More than a month after the names of the three finalists were announced, Birmingham still doesn't have a new police chief.
"I think we are close," Mayor Randall Woodfin said on Thursday of making a decision on how to hire as police chief. "I think we have more assessing to do.
Speaking to reporters at the Neighborhoods USA (NUSA) conference, which is being held in Birmingham this week, Woodfin said hiring a police chief is one of the most important appointments he will make as mayor. He said he doesn't want to rush to make a decision.
"I am committed to make sure I get this appointed position right," Woodfin said. "I have confidence I will get that right."
The finalists for Birmingham police chief are Malik Aziz, division commander with the Dallas Police Department; Henry Irby, deputy chief (currently handling day-to-day operations) with the Birmingham Police Department; and Patrick D. Smith, a commander with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Woodfin interviewed the finalists on April 23-25. The search began on Jan. 23, about two months after Chief A.C. Roper announced his retirement.
Woodfin said the police department is one of the biggest departments in the city, and he has to think about "morale" and the "culture" of the department when making the decision of who will lead it.
Woodfin addressed crime during a Thursday morning NUSA panel that also included New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Jackson, Miss. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumb.
More than a 1,000 people from across the country, many of them neighborhood leaders, are attending the conference. The conference is expected to have an economic impact on the Birmingham area of $785,000.
"If I'm honest, one of the few things that keeps me up at night is the gun violence in my city," Woodfin said. "I struggle with the number of murders that have taken place since I have become mayor."
Not only does Birmingham have a crime problem, Woodfin said the city has a "poverty problem. It is just not poverty. It is concentrated poverty."
This is causing some young people to make bad choices and have a "reckless disregard for another person's life," he said.
As Woodfin has publicly said before, the mayor said if someone brings him a gun, he will do all he can to get them a job.
"I mean that," he said. "It is not a program."
In order to prevent crime, Woodfin said you have to have police officers engaging with the residents of the neighborhoods they patrol and invest in human capital such as offering workforce development training.
Neighborhood associations
Woodfin said his office inherited an inefficient process for neighborhood associations to spend funds to improve and put on events in their areas. He said the request for funds have to go through a 17-week process before a check is cut for neighborhoods to draw down on their funds.
"That is crazy," he said, adding the he has directed staff to make that process easier. Woodfin said he hopes that process will be in place before the end of the year.
The city's 99 neighborhoods have a combined $3.7 million in neighborhood association accounts that haven't been spent.
Woodfin is proposing not putting any funds in the neighborhood association accounts next fiscal year. Instead, he said those funds will be directed towards the projects that neighborhood officers have indicated are the top priorities in their neighborhoods.
Office of Social Justice and Racial Equity
During the Thursday morning panel discussion, Woodfin said he is moving forward with the creation of the Mayor's Office of Social Justice and Racial Equity.
The formation of the office was recommended by Woodfin's transition team.
On Thursday, Woodfin said he was within two weeks of hiring a LGBTQ liaison.
More details on the Office of Social Justice and Racial Equity and the liaison position weren't available for release.