Birmingham city councilor stands by comments against county personnel board

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - City Councilor Darrell O’Quinn says there are a lot of conversations happening about ways to improve things for officers. Still, he stands by his statements made earlier this week about the Jefferson County Personnel Board.

Birmingham Fraternal Order of Police President DeAngelo Hall says that is not how many officers feel, especially regarding disciplinary actions within the department.

“The personnel board does allow that individual to appeal that decision to make sure that there isn’t any wrongdoing on behalf of the city, and when Councilor O’Quinn stated that people are getting their jobs back, that’s because the investigation was poor and individuals did nothing wrong, or the punishment was too severe for what the crime was,” says Hall.

But O’Quinn does agree with Hall about the need to better the police department, but some of the requests officers have are not feasible for the city right now.

“Some of the things they are asking for, particularly, have been take-home vehicles. That has been in discussion, but that would be tens of millions of dollars capital outlay for us to achieve that, but that doesn’t mean we are not having conversations about being able to do it in some capacity,” says O’Quinn.

He also agrees that Birmingham Police officers should make more money, but he says the personnel board determines the compensation.

“That compensation level is uniform across the board. A police officer in the city of Birmingham deserves a higher level of compensation than a police officer working in Pleasant Grove,” adds O’Quinn.

He says the council is always open and willing to listen to officers about any concerns or suggestions.

WBRC contacted the personnel board, but we are still waiting to hear back.

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