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Ascension St. Vincent’s Birmingham 2700 10th Ave. S., POB 2, Suite 305

Birmingham, AL 35205

Ascension St. Vincent’s One Nineteen 7191 Cahaba Valley Road, Building 1, Suite 106

Birmingham, AL 35242

Ascension St. Vincent’s Primary Care Hoover 1870 Chace Drive, Suite 160 Hoover, AL 35244

Ascension St. Vincent’s Morgan Road 2910 Morgan Road, Suite 100

Bessemer, AL 35022

The Norwood Clinic 339 Walker Chapel Road, Building 1-A

Fultondale, AL 35068

Hassan Alkhawam, MD

Crime Stats

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“If we were a corporation, we would be handing out large bonuses to everybody.”

Hoover police also were able to make arrests in 60% of their robbery cases in 2022, compared to a national violent crime clearance rate of 32.5% (for 2021), Lowe said.

Weapons law violations in Hoover were down 24% from 95 in 2021 to 72 in 2022, while burglaries dropped 9% from 129 to 117, thefts of vehicles fell 7% from 130 to 121 and assaults were down 2% from 848 to 827.

Of those assaults, 678 were simple assaults, 86 were cases of intimidation, 28 were felony domestic violence cases, 25 were other felony assaults, 5 were discharges of firearms into an occupied dwelling, 3 were child abuse cases and 2 were throwing or shooting a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle.

Overall, the number of crimes reported in Hoover in categories reported to the FBI increased 4%, from 4,016 crimes in 2021 to 4,184 in 2022. Arrests were up 7% from 2,753 to 2,935.

COUNTERFEITING, FORGERY AND FRAUD

One of the biggest increases was in counterfeiting and forgery cases, which rose 61% from 75 to 121.

Some of that increase comes from in-person counterfeiting and forgery, but a lot more criminals are victimizing and scamming people using technology, Lowe said. Many times, it’s over the phone or through email, and unfortunately, a lot of times the victims are elderly people, he said.

Fraud offenses — which include impersonation, swindling, stealing through false pretenses and credit card fraud — remained relatively stable in 2022, but there were still 430 fraud offenses reported in Hoover for the year.

Derzis said a lot of phone scams originate outside the United States, sometimes with 150 to 200 people in the same room making phone calls to rip people off. “All it takes is a very, very small percentage of those phone calls to make somebody’s life miserable here,” sometimes stealing $10,000 to $50,000 from people by gaining their personal and/or financial information, he said.

There is little the police can do against those international scam operations, he said.

Common scams include outdated warranties and people claiming that there is an arrest warrant out for the victim and demanding some sort of payment to avoid prosecution, he said.

People need to remember that reputable companies, organizations and the Internal Revenue Service generally won’t make calls to you and ask for your personal information over the phone, Lowe said.

Derzis said it’s hard to believe some people agree to buy gift cards to resolve an alleged problem or stay out of trouble, but unfortunately they do. People should contact the police if they have any doubt instead of paying money or sending gift cards, he said.

Drug Offenses

The number of drug offenses rose 20% from 543 in 2021 to 650 in 2022, with the largest increase coming in marijuana cases. The number of marijuana possession cases rose 33% from 208 to 276.

Lowe said a lot of the increase in drug cases could be attributed to officers being more proactive and observant in traffic stops and encounters with the public.

Police Capt. Keith Czeskleba said there’s probably the same amount of marijuana out there now as there always has been, but police found it more often in 2022 because they were making more traffic stops. In early 2021, police still were limiting the number of officer-initiated encounters with the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Czeskleba said.

In 2022, there also were 187 drug equipment violations, 173 cases of controlled substance possession, 7 controlled substance distribution cases, 3 cases of drug trafficking and 2 cases of promoting prison contraband.

Derzis noted that there were 10 drug overdose deaths in 2022: seven from fentanyl, two from an unknown substance and one from a sedative or opioid. That was fewer deaths than in the past several years, and most of the people were generally 30 to 40 years old, Derzis said.

Meanwhile, the number of drug overdose victims saved increased (by about 10) to 49, the chief said. Of those, 26 were heroin overdoses, 12 were fentanyl overdoses, and the rest were an overdose of some sort of opioid combination, he said.

The majority of those rescues were the result of someone administering Narcan to the victim, whether it was someone with the victim, police or paramedics, Derzis said.

A lot of politicians and health care professionals have been advocating to make drug-testing strips more available to people so they can determine if their drugs are laced with fentanyl, Derzis said. That’s

Hoover every day,” he said.

Homicides And Sex Offenses

Hoover had four homicides in 2022, up from two the previous year. Police made arrests in each of the cases, with the defendants still awaiting trial.

The first occurred Jan. 29, when 25-year-old Madison Shea Pilkington was found dead in her apartment at The Halston apartment complex off Old Rocky Ridge Road. Evidence indicated she died as the result of an assault, and police charged her boyfriend, 32-year-old Cortez Lenard Warren of Hoover, with murder.

The second homicide happened Aug. 3 at the Marathon gasoline station at 5423 U.S. 280, when 19-yearold Sophia Nicole Zeigler was shot to death during an argument. Police charged an acquaintance of hers, 24-year-old Skylar Jacquel Dorsey of Trussville, with capital murder.

The final two homicides of 2022 happened Oct. 1 at The Park at Hoover apartment complex when two women, 39-year-old Lauren Anne White and 24-year-old Blakeley Meachelle Nelson, were shot to death. Police charged an acquaintance, 21-year-old Daxton Elliot Keith of Alabaster, and 20-year-old An’Ton Je’Ho Ram Lewis of Birmingham with capital murder.

There were 20 sex offenses reported in 2022, including 14 rapes and 2 cases each of sodomy, fondling and sexual assault with an object.

Domestic violence offenses declined 11% from 522 to 463, but the number of other types of domestic incidents increased 12% from 409 to 460.

Auto Burglaries

Derzis said he was pleased to see the number of auto burglaries decline slightly from 371 to 361, but particularly happy to see the number of guns being stolen from vehicles decline. Hoover police in March of last year launched a “Lock it or lose it” campaign after having 113 guns stolen from vehicles in Hoover in 2021 and 480 guns stolen from vehicles over the previous five years. As of December 2022, the number of guns stolen from vehicles was down by more than 50%, the chief said.

“That to me is very significant,” Derzis said. “I think the citizenry has been listening. … That’s not to say we still don’t have UBEVs [unlawful breaking and entering of vehicles] or don’t have unlocked cars, but maybe people are at least taking their guns inside.” a great idea to save people, but “I have yet to hear one say ‘Maybe it’s not a good idea to do illegal drugs,’ or ‘What are we doing to try to get people off of them?’” Derzis said.

Derzis said a lot of the credit for decreased crime belongs to the public because people are calling police when they see suspicious things and responding to requests for help in solving crimes.

Police have to deal with the effects of the drug epidemic, he said. “People who are addicted to drugs commit crimes, but nobody wants to talk about that.”

Also, almost all the drugs coming into the United States today are coming from Mexico, Derzis said. “There is no border security right now,” he said.

Hoover police are doing the best they can to combat illegal drug activity, but border security is primarily a federal issue, he said. That said, “what takes place at that level is affecting people in the city of

The department’s social media team does a fantastic job sharing what’s happening and soliciting feedback, he said. Since 2014, the department’s number of followers has increased from 5,000 to 42,000 on Facebook, 3,000 to 15,000 on Twitter, zero to 3,900 on Instagram and zero to more than 32,000 on Nextdoor, Derzis said.

Recruiting officers to work in the department is more challenging than it once was — as it is for police departments across the country, Derzis said. However, the city recently increased starting pay rates to $57,304 for people not yet certified as officers who have to go to an academy and a range of $60,174 to $66,352 for those already certified. Officers can be paid up to $88,920.

The higher pay has helped increase interest, Derzis said. “We’re certainly doing everything in our power to attract the kind of caliber of people we want to hire,” he said. “We’re looking for the best possible candidates.” inspires

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We unleash the power of behavioral analytics to allow you to achieve both of these objectives. Then, we transfer the knowledge to you and allow you to build a winning-culture with ongoing support.

Real Estate

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The biggest reason for the overall decline is the rise in interest rates, Realtors and builders say.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage had fallen below 3% after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, dropping as low as 2.65% in January 2021. That was the lowest rate in history and encouraged many people to move or build because they could borrow money at a cheaper price and afford a bigger house.

The market was incredibly busy in 2021 and early 2022. Some people were buying houses without inspections and paying way over asking price in order to win bidding wars, said Gwen Vinzant, a Realtor with RealtySouth’s Inverness office who has been in the business about 35 years.

The housing inventory was so low and demand was so strong that housing prices escalated quickly, Vinzant said. Some home prices went up $100,000 in one year, she said.

Higher costs for building materials also increased the price for new homes, said Jonathan Belcher, president of Signature Homes. The cost of lumber in 2020 and 2021 was 37% above historical averages, according to the National Association of Home Builders, but it since has dropped back down some. Other building materials such as concrete, gypsum and steel also saw rapid price increases during that time.

Since 2018, the price per square foot for new home construction in the 35043 zip code has risen 53%, from $119 per square foot to $182 per square foot, MLS data shows. Average new home prices in the 35043 zip code climbed from $275,460 to $460,149 over that four-year period.

In the 35242 zip code, the cost-persquare-foot increase was less dramatic — a 21% percent increase from $173 per square foot to $210 per square foot. Average home prices in 35242 rose from $535,099 in 2018 to $642,830 in 2022.

Existing home prices also continued escalating in 2022. In the 35043 zip code, existing home prices climbed 13%, from $347,754 in 2021 to $393,189 in 2022, MLS data shows. In the 35242 zip code, existing home prices rose 12%, from $496,491 to $555,857.

TWO-PART YEAR

But 2022 really could be divided into two parts, said Donald Morgan, who has been the broker for RE/MAX Southern Homes’ 280 office in Inverness for about 20 years. The first part of the year remained very strong as interest rates remained relatively low, but things started to change in the fall when interest rates started climbing more briskly, Morgan said.

The Federal Reserve throughout 2022 steadily raised short-term interest rates in an effort to control inflation. The result was that the average 30-year mortgage rate edged up from 2.75% in December 2021 to 4% in March, 5.25% in May and 7% in October, according to Freddie Mac.

The higher rates pushed some potential homebuyers out of the market, slowing down sales for both new and existing homes.

“The market just tanked,” Morgan said.

That end-of-the-year slowdown caused some sellers to reduce their asking prices and cut down on the crazy bidding wars, Vinzant said.

More recently, mortgage rates have stabilized and even dropped some. As of mid-February, the average 30-year mortgage rate was about 6.75%.

“We’re kind of getting back to a normal rate of buying,”Vinzant said.

She said she expects rates could fall further to 5.25% this spring and maybe below 5% again by the end of the year.

In the meantime, inventory remains low, which is keeping prices healthy for sellers, Morgan said. “We’ve got buyers, but we don’t have the sellers,” he said.

In the 35043 zip code, there was only about 1½ months’ supply of existing homes for sale as of mid-February and less than a month’s supply in the 35242 zip code, according to MLS data. There was a greater supply of new homes — about six months in the 35242 zip code and seven months in the 35043 zip code.

Morgan said he is still seeing more cash sales than usual. Normally, about 20% of the market is cash sales, but now it’s closer to 35%, he said. “Cash is king.”

Even though it’s a healthy market, it’s still a tough time for real estate agents because some companies recruit and hire anybody and everybody they can, Morgan said. There probably are 5,000 to 6,000 agents in the area right now, and “Birmingham just isn’t big enough to sustain that many agents,” he said.

More Building

Josh Osborne, manager of planning and community development for Shelby County, said he expects home building to continue at a strong pace in 2023 due to the low inventory. He is not seeing any downturn in permits to build new homes, he said.

MLS data in mid-February showed pending contracts for 80 new homes in the 35043 and 35242 zip codes and 118 other new homes up for sale.

Harris Doyle Homes is working on the first 28 lots of a 174-home subdivision called Hillsong near Mt Laurel, and Dominion South Oak is working on about 78 lots in the 3-acre range along Shelby County 41 near Shoal Creek, Osborne said. Meanwhile, D.R. Horton is beginning to build houses on 55 lots in a community called Oak Tree near The Narrows and continues working with other builders in Chelsea Park, which was the most active spot for home building in 2022.

Also, Signature Homes in early summer plans to start construction on 120 townho- mes in a community called Windsor Court along U.S. 280 across from the Walmart Supercenter in Hoover. Belcher said his company expects to complete 30 to 40 of those in 2023.

Christie Hester, director of development

services for Shelby County, said she believes the housing industry has kind of reached a “new normal” level of activity. However, any increases in interest rates or changes in the supply chain could alter those dynamics at any point, she said.