Montgomery police chief announces restart of city’s motorcycle police unit

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys has announced that the city is restarting its motorcycle police unit as he provided an update on the latest crime statistics.

The announcement was made at a news conference at police headquarters this afternoon.

Graboys says the last motorcycle unit operated in 2017. The new unit has five officers who will focus on traffic enforcement. He wants the unit to grow in numbers over the next 12-18 months, saying that traffic stops can lead to arrests on more serious charges.

As for the city’s crime numbers, Graboys says year-to-date, violent crimes are down 15.4%, robberies are down 44% and property crimes are down 19.2%. He says he’s still not satisfied with those numbers as the department works to bring the statistics further down.

In the last 30 days, he says there have been 86 felony cases solved, involving 56 arrests. He says six arrests were for murder or capital murder, while five others were for attempted murder or assault in the first degree.

Graboys says it’s apparent to him that a small number of people are responsible for a large number of crimes in the city.

So far this year, there have been 24 homicides, compared to 32 at this time last year.

The police department is seeking leads in two of the recent cases. Two were killed at a gas station in the 1300 block of Eastern Boulevard on Saturday, June 20. In another case, a missing man was found to be the victim of a homicide on Ann Street on Sunday, June 21. If you have information about either of those cases, call CrimeStoppers at (334) 215-STOP.

Graboys says in July, 19 people will start in the police academy, with another session planned for November.

He says police department tryouts will again be held at the department’s training facility at 5880 Old Hayneville Road. Sessions will be held tomorrow, on July 11 and again on July 25. They start at 9AM for anyone who is interested.