Senate committee to consider bill to allow ALEA to take over understaffed police departments in 2 cities

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A Senate committee will hold a public hearing this afternoon about a bill enabling the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to take over certain police departments if they are not meeting staffing requirements.

Senate Bill 289, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, gives law enforcement agencies serving Class 3 municipalities five years to have at least two full-time officers for every 1,000 residents in the city. Huntsville and Montgomery are the only two Class 3 municipalities in Alabama.

If that staffing requirement is not met within a five-year window, ALEA could take over operational oversight of the department. The takeover would last until one year after the municipality becomes compliant with the staffing requirement and could include creating a plan to improve staffing, deploying supplemental officers or resources or entering into agreements with other law enforcement entities.

The statewide agency could also appoint a chief administrative law enforcement officer who would have the authority to “act in all matters and for all purposes regarding the police department of the municipality, including, but not limited to, personnel actions, administrative procedures, enforcement strategies, and recruitment and retention methods.”

Non-compliant agencies would have to show improvements of more than 10% of their staffing deficit per year during that five-year grace period under the bill.

Barfoot, whose district includes part of Montgomery, told ADN he introduced this bill to help the city of Montgomery retain and recruit police officers from a legislative standpoint. Though he hasn’t worked with the city directly, Barfoot said the city is obviously trying to increase staffing, citing the Montgomery Police Department’s Super Bowl commercial.

“We’re just trying to come along and aid the city of Montgomery to the best of our ability to make sure that we have adequate staffing of the police department,” Barfoot said.

Though the bill would affect both Huntsville and Montgomery, crime and persistent staffing shortages in Montgomery have been an area of emphasis for lawmakers in recent years. Barfoot said he chose to tailor the bill to Class 3 municipalities because it was a “simpler way” to get the bill through to help Montgomery.

In response to crime in Montgomery and elsewhere, Gov. Kay Ivey in 2024 introduced her Safe Alabama bill package to improve public safety. That package allocated $3 million per year to fund a permanent, 24-man Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit in Montgomery.

Barfoot and Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, last session introduced companion bills to authorize the Alabama governor and attorney general to appoint interim police chiefs in cities facing public safety threats. Neither bill made it to a floor vote in either chamber, and the House bill received cries of governmental overreach from the Alabama Big 10 Mayors, who represent both Huntsville and Montgomery.

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Barfoot told ADN that increased crime and low staffing in Montgomery “are front and center on everyone’s mind,” creating an opportunity for this bill to pass this year.

“(I think this bill is) easier to quantify than bills in the past about what the threshold is for some type of state intervention,” Barfoot said. “It allows the state to come in and do work with the municipalities as well as the local sheriff’s departments of Montgomery County, by way of example. I just think it’s the right time.”

Though crime in Montgomery is often cited as a growing problem, most categories of crime in Montgomery fell in 2025, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said in a press conference last month.

Last year violent crime decreased by more than 25%, with overall crime down by around 15%. Reed said there were 61 homicides in Montgomery last year, the same number as in 2024.

Barfoot said he hasn’t heard any formal support from the city but hopes he will going forward.

The bill would also require agencies taken over by ALEA to pay the state or other affected agencies full restitution for the cost of deploying supplemental officers.

A spokesperson told ADN the Huntsville Police Department does not comment on pending legislation.

The Montgomery Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Senate County and Municipal Government Committee will meet at 1 p.m. today.