Annetta Nunn

Annetta Watts Nunn (born 1958) is the Chief of the Birmingham Police Department, the first African American woman to hold that title.

Nunn was the third of five daughters born in Ensley to coal-miner Johnnie Watts and his wife, Inez, a retired nurse who worked as a maid. She decided when she was 14 that she wanted to become a police officer. She was motivated by the corruption she observed among police in her neighborhood who took bribes from illegal shot-houses.

Nunn was valedictorian of her graduating class at Jackson-Olin High School. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and a minor in history. She worked as in intern at the Birmingham City Jail during her senior year, and joined the Birmingham Police in June of the same year, recruited under a consent decree brought on by a discrimination lawsuit. She was sworn in as an officer and assigned to the South Precinct.

Within three years she was promoted to Sergeant. She has served in the Detention, Patrol, Detective Bureau and Administration divisions of the department. She rose to Lieutenant in 1991 and became Captain, overseeing the North Precinct in 1995. She attended and graduated the 11-week course for law enforcement professionals at the FBI Academy in 1997.

In 1999, Mayor Richard Arrington challenged the Police Department to reduce crime by 15%. Captain Nunn's North Precinct was the only one to accomplish the goal that year. She was promoted to Deputy Chief on March 24, 2000, and placed in command of the field operations bureau.

In 2003 she was appointed by Mayor Bernard Kincaid to replace Mike Coppage who had been tapped by Governor Bob Riley to head the State Department of Public Safety. Her term of office began on March 7, 2003.

During her term she has been credited with overhauling the system of punishments for police infractions, pushing officers to more closely engage the communities they patrol, establishing a squad that focusses on solving cold cases, and increasing revenue from grants.

Nunn has had a relatively quiet tenure, marked by steady crime levels up until 2005 when the murder rate began climbing steeply, despite much smaller gains in other criminal activities. Under her term Birmingham Police suffered their deadliest incident when three officers were gunned down at a house in Ensley in June 2004. Despite the attention paid to the homicide rate, she has enjoyed the full confidence of Mayor Kincaid, even after disagreeing with him over his order to suspend the use of tasers. As the number of homicides continued unabated through the summer of 2006 she has faced increasing criticism from the public, who see her as ineffective.

Nunn, a member of the choir at 23rd Street Baptist Church in Ensley, is an outspoken Christian who has identified the underlying cause of violent crime as a turning away from God's plan. She has sought help from ministers and churches in providing programs to reduce criminal behavior, but has not withheld criticism when some ministers fanned flames of racism after the shooting of a suspect by police. In November 2006 she recorded the gospel song "Precious Lord" for an anti-violence conference. She sang it live for the 2006 Street Soldiers National Conference that same month, and the track earned airplay on WAGG AM 610. The reception of that song has led to plans to put together a full album of songs for release in 2007. Proceeds from sales of the CD will benefit Birmingham YWCA programs for domestic violence. Henry Panion has produced Nunn's recordings.

In 2005 she divorced her husband Robert Nunn, Sr, with whom she has two sons, Robert, Jr and Stephen. She has one granddaughter.

References

• Robinson, Carol (December 28, 2005) "Police chief likes to be in background." Montgomery Advertiser.
• Nichols, Mark. "She's a Rising Star: Birmingham, Alabama's top cop brings talent and a sense of history to the job." American Police Beat. [1] - accessed June 26, 2006
• Robinson, Carol (July 23, 2006) "In addition to crime, Nunn fights public perception." Birmingham News.
• Norris, Toraine (December 16, 2006) "Nunn turns voice against violence, has CD in works." Birmingham News.

External links

• Annetta Nunn at informationbirmingham.com
• Annetta Nunn website