A young and ambitious police chief in Birmingham, Alabama has been “honored” for gaining online attention. But after the city’s deadliest year on record, he remains focused on reducing homicides by more than 50%.
Chief Michael Pickett’s hair was styled. It has a badge and a carved beard.
And an Instagram video posted Oct. 31 by Essence, a leader with the Birmingham, Alabama, police department, received nearly 5,000 comments from online fans praising his appearance.
“It’s Halloween so we feel like we need a little treat,” Essence’s caption reads. “Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett has captured the hearts of people on the internet, and he makes us want to protect and serve. Wee, wee, wee, wee, it’s like a police car!”
But Pickett didn’t set out to become a famous face on Instagram or the latest TikTok. Instead, he wants to be a new model for community policing in America. This strategic approach is used by departments across the country and encourages officers to prioritize true partnerships with the communities they serve.
Last year was Birmingham’s deadliest year on record, with 139 people violently murdered. But under Pickett’s first year of leadership, the city reduced homicides by 51% by 2025 and hired the largest police force in its history.
A few days after Mr. Pickett’s interview with USA TODAY, three murders occurred in Birmingham on Saturday, November 8th. “Let me be clear: borderline personality disorder remains locked up,” Pickett said in a statement on Nov. 10. “If you lose your life in this city, we will work relentlessly to find you.”
All three arrests were made within 48 hours.
Still, Pickett says there’s still work to be done in Birmingham. The chief said he’s happy about the attention he’s received online, but remains focused on his goal.
“I’m really honored to be recognized by Essence. I know it’s a huge, huge, huge outlet,” Pickett told USA TODAY, calling the coverage “humbling.” But he insisted he is “consistently focused on serving the people of Birmingham, fighting crime, and, as I said, holding accountable those who choose to break the law in our city.”
Pickett’s rise comes five years after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, sparking a national debate over law enforcement tactics. It also coincided with President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to major metropolitan areas across the country after President Trump called for a crackdown on crime during the 2024 campaign.
Magic City residents share a troubled relationship with police dating back to before the 1963 Birmingham riots. This is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, where he worked to desegregate the South.
This is where nonviolent protesters were doused with water, harassed with tear gas and attacked by police dogs. And it’s also where the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown in September 1963, killing four black girls.
West Birmingham son meets mentor who changed his life
Pickett grew up in Birmingham in the late 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when distrust of police remained even 20 years after the peak of the civil rights movement.
His “unfortunate” past was the reason he was introduced to the city police.
“As a kid, I grew up hearing stories from my parents, my uncles, my aunts, my grandparents, and of course the Birmingham Police Department was part of that story,” Pickett said.
However, since the chief grew up in the city, he did not have much interaction with the police. He credits his “amazing” family for keeping him out of trouble.
He wasn’t exposed to danger until adolescence, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be in law enforcement. The Ramsey High School graduate later met Victor “Vic” Langford, a Birmingham police officer, while attending Miles College, a historically black educational institution on the outskirts of Birmingham.
“He said, ‘I see something in you. I think you should go take a test to see how you can become a police officer,'” Pickett said of the coach, who went by his nickname. Pickett got good grades, passed his next class at the police academy, and joined the police department in 2004.
Not only did Vick set an example for Pickett as a law enforcement officer, he also built real connections in the Alabama community. Pickett said he had a strong presence by helping lead one of the police campaign teams that connected the department with Birmingham residents.
In 2021, Coach Vic will gain statewide attention when he helps arrest a murder suspect after he catches him in an alley during his off-duty hours. “You always hear bad things about police officers. Officer Vic didn’t have to do what he did,” local resident Marcella Stevenson told AL.com at the time. “He went above and beyond. He showed he cared.”
“They understand people.”
Pickett, like Vick, rose through the ranks in the city’s West Police Department. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin appointed Pickett as interim police chief until spring 2024. “Birmingham deserves a police force that is proactive, professional and people-oriented,” Pickett said at his April 1 inaugural press conference.
At the age of 40, he became the youngest mayor in Birmingham’s history. His number of supporters also increased. On Instagram, Pickett has amassed 13,000 followers. His posts typically receive over 1,000 likes.
Jeffrey Walker, a criminal justice professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said Pickett’s popularity is partly due to his upbringing in Birmingham. “He knows a lot of people here, so it’s very easy for him to build a fan base. It’s kind of growing up,” Walker said.
He added that Pickett’s connections are important because “there’s not a lot of trust in the city itself,” citing longstanding local complaints about trash pickup, dilapidated buildings and overgrown grounds.
Police departments like Birmingham are also responding to the national sentiment. Americans across the country have a complex relationship with police and their work. A Gallup poll conducted last year found that 51% of Americans say they have “a lot” or “a lot” of trust in police, compared to 32% who say they have “some” trust and 16% who say they have no trust at all.
And despite FBI data showing that the nation’s crime rate has declined over the past 30 years, nearly every Gallup poll conducted since 1993 shows more than half of Americans believe crime has increased from the previous year.
Pickett said several things need to happen to improve the department’s relationship with Birmingham. First, he wanted the majority of Birmingham officials to be from the community, like himself.
“Ideally, most police officers would be from the communities they serve because they know the people and understand the people,” Pickett said. “They understand the good and the bad. I feel like the more familiar you are with the community, the more you’re from the community, the better you can serve the community.”
How Chief Michael Pickett and Birmingham Police Officers Got ‘Locked Up’
He then told officers to “stand firm” – to be focused and prepared to protect themselves.
Mr Pickett told the Birmingham Times over the summer that he was “absolutely pissed off” by 2024, which marked Birmingham’s worst-ever death toll. If the department wants to combat violent crime, BPD officers need to combat misconceptions about officers, Pickett said. He wrote letters to his comrades, pleading with them to be locked up.
“That was my message to the authorities: Last year was the deadliest year on record, and our community depends on each and every one of us,” Pickett said. “We applied for this job, that’s what we promised.”
“It’s a global world now, so even if something isn’t happening in our community, people can see it because it’s all on the internet now,” Pickett added. Officers “have to understand the atmosphere, understand the current events of what’s going on, and we have to combat that,” he told USA TODAY.
Pickett said the work goes beyond the moment police make an arrest or investigate potential criminal activity. After the shooting, he shows up at the door. Get to know your neighbors. He talks to people on the street. BPD officers are live streaming the event on Facebook.
“The way we fight this problem is the way we police it, the way we make people feel heard, they feel valued, they feel respected, and the way we make people feel when we’re there,” Pickett said.
Experts say there is no direct link between crime reduction and local policing.
Justin Nix, a professor at the University of Omaha, said there is no scientific evidence to suggest a direct correlation between crime reduction and community policing efforts.
However, strengthening community ties helps build trust. “As humans, we look for people who seem approachable, but that only helps police if they are perceived that way by the community,” Nix told USA TODAY.
Lorenzo Boyd, a former law enforcement officer and community policing expert at the University of New Haven, agreed, telling USA TODAY that positive encounters can help foster a sense of safety and camaraderie in Birmingham and beyond.
“If there’s something that would shine a positive light on the police, it would be for someone to just take a moment to say, ‘Look, maybe I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, and maybe I’ll talk to the police a little bit more, then that’s a good thing,'” Boyd said.
After an eight-year hiatus, Mr. Pickett restarted the police athletic team, which Coach Vick helped coach, in March to mentor children through sports.
“The goal of our PAT program will be to promote mutual respect between law enforcement and our youth,” he told local news station WBRC.
His approach also attracted more recruits to the Birmingham Police Department, which held its largest-ever police academy class in August. 93 recruits were ready to be locked up.
When the 1996 Olympics were held in Atlanta, BPD increased staffing for the soccer tournament held at Legion Field in Birmingham. They were given the nickname “Olympic Class” in honor of the 1996 Olympics.
“We actually outperformed our class,” Pickett told USA TODAY, adding that “I think it’s a testament to our recruiting team and that we were able to put the right people in the right places.” BPD hired more than 200 officers this year.
“I just want to see the director.”
Pickett isn’t kidding around about crime in the area just yet. On August 28, he released a statement detailing why the department arrested the parents after a fight broke out at a public housing complex. “I would like to say two things,” the chief wrote. “Parental Responsibility.”
However, nothing could stop him from becoming nationally famous thanks to his work as a local police chief. A week before Essence posted about Pickett, a Magic City Classic football game was held in the area. In the nation’s biggest HBCU football game, Alabama State defeated the Alabama A&M Bulldogs 56-13.
Pickett participated in the parade and had fun on TikTok with fans.
A woman named Zakiyah Milhouse, an internet creator, also traveled to Birmingham police headquarters with a lawn chair in hopes of meeting him. “I’m not bothering anyone. I just want to see the chief, baby, he’s the talk of social media,” she said in a Nov. 2 video. “I’m just trying to make sure he’s really okay.”
“As much as the girls love him, he’s the talk of the internet,” Milhouse told USA TODAY. “Actually, I feel like the girls just honestly did what they wanted with the ball.”
Pickett is celebrating one year since Mayor Woodfin appointed him interim chief on Nov. 20.
It feels like just a few years ago he was a kid on Birmingham’s west side. He didn’t think about becoming a police officer – at least until he met Coach Vic. He also never thought he would become a police chief.
Now, all Pickett wants is for kids on Birmingham’s west side to be safe.
Contributed by: N’dea Yancey-Bragg
