Fire, police departments expand with the city

Public safety has always been a priority for Hoover.

The Fire Department formed in 1962 — five years before the city incorporated — after several new homes in Green Valley were threatened by brush fires, according to a history of the department written by Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, who spent 42 years with the department.

But both the fire and police departments look much different today than in the early years.

The Fire Department had just three calls in its first year, handled with a 1944 Mack pumper truck housed in a small tin building behind William Hoover Sr.’s Employers Insurance Company of Alabama off U.S. 31.

That compares with 10,212 calls in 2016, handled by a fleet of about 20 vehicles spread out at 10 fire stations over 50 square miles from Ross Bridge to Greystone.

The first permanent fire station was built in 1965 behind Employers Insurance for about $6,000. In 1968, under Chief Ralph Sheppard, the department bought its first new fire engine and added full-time coverage by having Samford University students live at the station and respond to calls when not attending classes.

In the early 1970s, several full-time firefighters were hired, and Hoover joined Birmingham, Homewood and Vestavia Hills as the first cities in the state to provide paramedic coverage, according to city records.

Hoover’s current fire chief, Chuck Wingate, joined the department in 1975 after Hoover began frequent annexations into the Bluff Park Fire District, where he previously served. He was the seventh full-time firefighter hired and, along with Brocato, one of the first medics.

“It was bare bones and poor equipment, to be honest with you,” Wingate said.

Until that time, the department was supported by dues and subsidized by the city, but in 1976, the city took over full-time operation and hired the first full-time chief.

Tom Bradley, a retired Birmingham fire captain, led the department 33 years.

Thanks to his leadership and support of elected officials, the department made tremendous advancements in service, equipment, training and pay, Wingate said.

Keeping up with the city’s growth has been a challenge, but the department has grown to include 172 full-time firefighters and 15 part-time employees, Wingate said. Almost all the firefighters are paramedics, and 66 percent of calls are medical.

Aggressive police reputation

The Police Department also has seen tremendous changes.

The city’s first police officer and chief, retired Birmingham police detective James Norrell, didn’t stay long. He retired in March 1968 and was followed by Oscar Davis, who was chief for eight years.

At first, the Police Department operated from a small office at Fire Station No. 1, and the bathroom served as a temporary jail until inmates could be taken to Vestavia Hills.

The department moved to a new 6,000-square-foot city hall along U.S. 31 in the early 1970s. Davis retired in 1976 and was replaced by David Cummings in 1977. Cummings served 21 years at the helm.

Derzis said when he joined the force in 1979, police had just a small chief’s office, detective office and two jail cells. When the current Municipal Center was built in 1985, the Police Department moved into 15,500 square feet on the first floor, including nine jail cells.

With annexations and the opening of the Riverchase Galleria, Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and Interstates 65 and 459 during the 1980s, the Police Department grew quickly, doubling from 33 officers to 68 between 1984 and 1988.

More annexations and home building followed in the 1990s. Due to manpower shortages, many officers doubled their salaries working extra shifts with overtime pay.

As city revenues grew, the department caught up and now employs 180 sworn officers (including 11 part-time school resource officers in elementary schools) and 65 civilian employees, Derzis said.

Bob Berry became chief in 1998, and police opened an operations center for the patrol and traffic divisions in an old movie theater on Lorna Road in 2000. Then in 2004, a new 72-bed jail opened as part of a new Hoover Public Safety Center off Valleydale Road. The jail later was expanded to 88 beds and houses federal inmates.

Derzis said when he was named chief in 2005, police started requiring new officers to have either a college degree or experience in law enforcement or the military. 

Thanks to generous support from city leaders, Derzis said Hoover police have added a lot of equipment and specialty teams many departments don’t have, including three helicopters shared with Jefferson County, a tactical team, dive team, canine unit, fingerprint database, body cameras and, soon, an armored rescue vehicle.

Hoover police have developed a reputation for being aggressive and solving crimes, with a 71 percent clearance rate for robberies last year, Derzis said. Even with roughly 90,000 residents and a daytime population of more than 200,000 people, Hoover had just 42 robberies in 2016, and nine of those were shoplifters struggling with someone.

The city frequently lands on lists of top U.S. cities in which to live, partly based on a low crime rate, Derzis said.

“Our people do a heck of a job,” he said.