Latest news with #MetroAreaCrimeSuppressionUnit
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Gov. Kay Ivey touts arrest of Honduran man without legal status in traffic stop
Gov. Kay Ivey gives a thumbs-up to the crowd at her inauguration on Jan. 20, 2023. (Stew Milne/Alabama Reflector) Gov. Kay Ivey touted in a post on X Friday that a Honduran man in the state without authorization was arrested in a string of traffic stops intended to reduce violent crimes. Roberto Steven Martinez Benavides was charged with second-degree forgery in Montgomery on Tuesday in 'an operation concerning the delivery of a vehicle for purchase with a fraudulent VIN and fraudulent title.' Amanda Wasden, director of external affairs for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, said in an email that the Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit (MACS) helped the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) by conducting a traffic stop on the vehicle with the alleged fraudulent VIN. Benavides is being held in the Montgomery County Jail. He has a hold for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) so that HSI can determine if he is eligible for deportation or further action. 'Another strong week for Alabama's Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit in our Capital City — 63 traffic stops, 51 arrest warrants and 15 other arrests. One individual arrested is an illegal. We've turned him over to the feds to be deported,' Ivey posted on X. MACS is a coalition of local, state and federal agencies that work to reduce violent crimes and 'seek to obtain prosecutions for violations such as organized crime, drug conspiracy, robbery, motor vehicle theft and firearms violations.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Safe Alabama Package' bills pass House
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Alabama House lawmakers passed the first round of bills from the 'Safe Alabama Package,' according to a Tuesday release. One of those bills establishes a law enforcement officers' family scholarship program. Another is a bill that would provide electronic monitoring for juveniles as they wait for case dispositions. Gov. Kay Ivey discusses public safety bill A third bill approves more money Montgomery's Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Birmingham residents react to Gov. Ivey's focus on inner-city crime
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Gov. Kay Ivey said her main priority is making Alabama safer. She highlighted ways to fight crime in Alabama cities during her State of the State address Tuesday. Lawmakers and Birmingham residents reacted to the governor's statements. They said they are encouraged by what they heard. Residents and lawmakers welcomed ways to fight crime and put an end to gun violence in Alabama cities. George McCall is the president of the Ensley Neighborhood Association. 'I'm 85 years old. For all my life, I have lived in this area,' McCall said 'When I grew up, it was a fist fight. Now, it's no more fist fights. It's gun violence for revenge and stuff like that.' Ivey addressed the gun violence McCall is speaking of in her Tuesday speech. 'We will crack down on inner-city violence by enhancing penalties for dangerous felons with guns,' Ivey said. 'We will expand Anaiah's law, boost our successful Metro Area Crime Suppression Unit, ban Glock switches, and we will enhance supervision of high-risk juveniles.' Alabama lawmakers talk Medicaid expansion According to state Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham), the governor's comments and the laws she is talking about are backed by bipartisan support. 'The governor's package will pass — there is no way — this is politics 101,' Givan said. 'It is going to pass.' Givan said there will be additional legislation that helps to stop gun violence in urban areas. 'We can deal with the Glock situation, and we are going to deal with that,' Givan said. 'We also have to deal with the fact that these killers are purchasing and stealing guns that they are reselling in the black market to these young people who have no business with these guns in their hands.' Givan said she is drafting new bills that will support ending gun violence, as her goal is making Birmingham and other Alabama cities as safe as possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
