Jay Mitchell Pledges New Working Group to Analyze Officer-Involved Shootings
BIRMINGHAM, AL—Attorney General candidate Jay Mitchell today announced a bold initiative to ensure fairness and accountability in the State’s handling of officer-involved shootings: the Critical Incident Assessment Team (CIAT).
The CIAT will be led by Oxford Police Chief Bill Partridge and Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego, along with an experienced group of law enforcement leaders from across the state. This working group will evaluate officer-involved shootings, along with other critical incidents, to provide timely and privileged analysis directly to the Attorney General’s Office.
When an officer-involved shooting occurs, the CIAT will:
- Review body camera footage and available evidence
- Evaluate officer actions under the law and established policing standards
- Produce a formal, independent assessment
- Brief the Attorney General’s Executive Office in real time
This proactive approach will enable the Attorney General’s Office to track cases from the outset, ensuring that decisions are grounded in facts—not politics or public pressure. The CIAT’s findings will also be available as a resource to local prosecutors who face early charging decisions.
Mitchell credited Cody Smith, a former Montgomery Police Officer who was wrongfully prosecuted by the State, with bringing attention to the need for this policy improvement.
Mitchell made a hard pledge: “When I am Attorney General, my office will not support wrongful prosecutions of law enforcement. It’s not enough to plead out innocent officers after they’ve been railroaded—my goal as Attorney General is to fix the system and prevent wrongful prosecutions before they happen.”
Chief Bill Partridge said, “Officers in the line of duty need to know they don’t stand alone—and that if an incident occurs, their actions will be reviewed fairly at the highest level. That’s how you restore confidence in the system.”
Sheriff John Samaniego said, “It is paramount for a group like the CIAT to review these officer-involved incidents quickly and thoroughly to ensure that facts—not politics or conjecture—drive cases.”
For more information on Cody Smith's case, listen to his story on this recent episode of the Shoot Me Straight podcast available on all platforms.
For more information on Jay’s position on the wrongful prosecution of law enforcement in Alabama, read his latest op-ed “Alabama’s War on Good Cops Must End” in Yellowhammer News.