Birmingham is on pace for its fewest homicides in 75 years as violence programs pay off

Birmingham, Alabama, is heading toward its safest year in three quarters of a century. Mayor Randall Woodfin says the city has recorded 34 homicides so far in 2026. That puts it on course for the lowest yearly total since 1951.

In a social media post, Woodfin said killings are down 46 percent from the same point last year and 74 percent from 2024. Police have solved 31 of this year's 34 cases, which he said means more families are getting answers.

A steep two-year drop

The city counted 130 homicides in 2024 and 63 in 2025, a decline of about half. Police Chief Michael Pickett told reporters earlier this month that even he had not expected so large a reduction this year.

Investing in people who stop violence

Woodfin shares the credit with officers and with community violence intervention workers. Birmingham set aside more than $5.5 million in federal pandemic relief money for those programs. One of them places case managers at the hospital bedside of gunshot survivors to link them with trauma therapy, help moving to a safer home and job training.

Other efforts include a neighborhood healing program, a group violence reduction strategy and a street outreach team run with the Urban League of Alabama that sends mentors and conflict mediators into high-risk blocks. The city's plan rests on four pillars that range from wellness and community engagement to policy oversight and youth safety.

Woodfin says the outreach work adds to policing rather than replacing it. He calls public safety a problem with many layers that needs an answer with many layers. The long-term goal is to cut violence by 10 percent every year.

Birmingham joins other cities led by Black mayors, among them Baltimore and Chicago, where homicides have fallen sharply over the past two years.