CALERA, Ala. (WIAT) - One Alabama lawmaker has pre-filed a bill that if signed into law would grant the attorney general or governor the power to appoint an interim police chief in a city that's deemed to have high crime rates.
Calera Police Chief David Hyche says addressing high crime levels goes beyond just one leader at a police department and often points to issues like the economy and social issues.
"It takes a total team effort and total commitment from the politicians, the police department leadership certainly, the staff at the department, the community, the clergy, the schools," Hyche said. "Everybody has to be on the same sheet of music.”
State Representative Reed Ingram of Pike Road authored House Bill 14. He says should a city need to have an interim police chief appointed by the attorney general or governor, it would not be a replacement of the current chief and the two would work together to address rising crime in that city.
"We’re not wanting to take any police department, we’ve got enough on our hands but we’ve got to keep our citizens safe,” Ingram said.
According to HB14, the interim chief would serve until it’s determined the ongoing threat to public safety no longer exists which Ingram hopes would be less than two years.
"All of them that I know of want to make public safety a priority and so if we can help them with the experience that we’ve got in the AG’s or what we’ve got in ALEA, we’ve got some really good guys and girls that are very experienced to lead a police department,” Ingram said.
Hyche says there needs to be strong leadership in law enforcement which is something he thinks the country as a whole has gotten away from.
"It’s not just feel-good stuff. You can’t come in for 30 days and execute a bunch of warrants and arrest a few people, do a press conference and say you’ve done something," Hyche said. "It has to be a long-term, real solution and you also have to get community buy in because without the community’s cooperation, you’re not going to solve crimes very often.”
Hyche says while there might be some instances where bringing in outside intervention to a police department could be beneficial, it really comes down to having a strong leader in the role to build confidence in the officers on the force while also building trust in the community. Something he says cannot be done overnight.