Editing Huntsville, Alabama (section)

===Public safety===
The Huntsville Fire and Rescue provides fire protection for the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=Huntsville Fire Department |url=https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/government/departments/fire-rescue-department/ |access-date=July 22, 2020 |website=Fire & Rescue Department |publisher=Hsvcity.com}}</ref> On a daily basis the department staffs and coordinates twenty-one engine companies, five ladder trucks, four rescue trucks, along with a Special Operations Division that includes Hazardous Materials Units, Technical Rescue Units, and several specialized support units. Huntsville Fire & Rescue also has Fire Investigations, emergency response dispatch, logistics, and training divisions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.joinhuntsvillefireandrescue.com/about-hfr/ |access-date=December 24, 2022 |website=Join HFR |language=en}}</ref>

Huntsville has two volunteer public safety organizations in their city. The Huntsville-Madison County Rescue Squad is the county-wide volunteer rescue organization with tasks ranging from vehicle extrication to water rescues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HMCRSI - About Us |url=http://www.rescuesquad.net/aboutus.html |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website= rescuesquad.net}}</ref> The other is the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit which is the region's only all-volunteer cave rescue organization. It is tasked with cave, cliff and high angle rope rescues. These organizations are located in Huntsville but operate both in the city and outside with HCRU, responding to many cave rescue calls coming from caves well outside the city limits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=http://www.hcru.org/about |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit |archive-date=December 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221218033403/http://www.hcru.org/about }}</ref>

[[File:Huntsville Hospital.jpg|thumb|The main building of [[Huntsville Hospital System|Huntsville Hospital]]]]
Huntsville Hospital in the downtown area is the largest hospital and [[trauma center]]. In 2021, Huntsville Hospital opened the Orthopedic & Spine Tower, a seven-story building with 24 surgical orthopedic suites,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gattis |first1=Paul |date=September 22, 2021 |title=Huntsville Hospital quietly opens $150 million surgical tower |work=The Huntsville Times |publisher=AL.com |url=https://www.al.com/news/2021/09/huntsville-hospital-quietly-opens-150-million-surgical-tower.html |access-date=January 14, 2022}}</ref> which brings the total bed count to 881 for Huntsville Hospital.<ref>{{cite web |title=North Alabama Southern Tennessee Health Care with Huntsville Hospital |url=https://www.huntsvillehospital.org/#system-message-container |access-date=January 14, 2022 |website=Huntsville Hospital}}</ref> Located further south, Crestwood Medical Center is a smaller, 180-bed<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.crestwoodmedcenter.com/hospital-about-us |access-date=December 12, 2020 |website=Crestwood Medical Center}}</ref> [[teaching hospital]] that is ranked nationally in two specialties.<ref name="USNew">{{cite web |title=Overview of Crestwood Medical Center |url=https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/al/crestwood-medical-center-6530521 |access-date=November 23, 2020 |website=US News}}</ref> Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (HEMSI) provides emergency medical services to Huntsville and surrounding Madison county. HEMSI operates from 12 stations with a fleet of 36 ambulances.<ref>{{cite web |title=HEMSI |url=http://www.hemsi.org |access-date=November 8, 2011 |publisher=HEMSI}}</ref>

The Huntsville Police Department has three precincts and one downtown headquarters, over 500 sworn officers,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC |title=Report by Independent Counsel to The Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council |date=April 22, 2021 |page=21 of 248 |url=http://huntsvillepolicereview.com/documents/HPCAC_Comprehensive_Report.pdf |access-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> 200 civilian personnel, and patrols an area of approximately 220 square miles. The department also boasts its own academy, which has been in operation since 1965.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.joinhuntsvillepd.com/about-hpd/ |title= About HPD |publisher=joinhuntsvillepd.com |access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref>

Huntsville spent $1.2 million in 2015 to buy body cameras to be used by the Huntsville Police Department. Mayor Tommy Battle pushed for the purchase of the body cameras, saying: "We can provide a trust situation with police and our general public."<ref name="waffbodycam">{{cite news |date=December 14, 2015 |title=Huntsville police testing new body cameras |work=WAFF 48 News |publisher=Gray Media Group, Inc. |agency=NBC |url=https://www.waff.com/story/30744689/huntsville-police-testing-new-body-cameras/ |access-date=September 2, 2021}}</ref> The mayor also said: "Having that body cam there, having the police video there record what actually happens, and when people come in with complaints against Huntsville police officers, they get to see the action that actually happened."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sydney |first1=Martin |title=Huntsville police refuse to release body camera video |url=https://www.waaytv.com/content/news/I-Team--483392181.html |access-date=September 2, 2021 |work=WAAY 31 |agency=ABC |publisher=Allen Media Broadcasting, LLC |date=May 22, 2018 |archive-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902222906/https://www.waaytv.com/content/news/I-Team--483392181.html }}</ref>

Following the conviction of a former Huntsville police officer for murder, after he was originally cleared of any wrongdoing by the Police department,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levenson |first1=Michael |title=Former Alabama Officer Is Sentenced to 25 Years for Murdering Suicidal Man |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/us/alabama-william-darby-jeffrey-parker.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/us/alabama-william-darby-jeffrey-parker.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=August 20, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> the City of Huntsville voted to change the way police shootings are reviewed. Beginning in August 2021, all shootings that result in death that occur by Huntsville Police are to be investigated by the [[Alabama Law Enforcement Agency]] instead.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Remkus |first1=Ashley |date=August 13, 2021 |title=Huntsville asks state to take over investigations when city police shoot someone |work=[[The Huntsville Times]] |publisher=[[AL.com]] |url=https://www.al.com/news/2021/08/huntsville-asks-state-to-take-over-investigations-when-city-police-shoot-someone.html |access-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref> The first investigation following the policy change started in January 2022 after an off-duty Huntsville police officer allegedly killed his girlfriend.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Margo |title=HPD officer accused of girlfriend's murder, sources confirmed |url=https://www.waff.com/2022/01/08/hpd-officer-questioned-apartment-shooting-death/ |access-date=January 8, 2022 |work=WAFF 48 News |agency=NBC |publisher=Gray Media Group, Inc. |date=January 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kroschel |first=Matt |date=January 8, 2022 |title=Sources: Huntsville police officer charged with capital murder involving girlfriend |work=WAAY 31 News |publisher=Allen Media Broadcasting |agency=ABC |url=https://www.waaytv.com/news/sources-huntsville-police-officer-charged-with-capital-murder-involving-girlfriend/article_dabb3166-7037-11ec-84dc-3794fef4c01d.html |access-date=January 8, 2022}}</ref> The officer had initially reported the death as a suicide; however, it was later investigated as a homicide.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Koplowitz |first1=Howard |date=January 7, 2022 |title=Off-duty Huntsville officer charged with capital murder |work=The Huntsville Times |publisher=AL.com |url=https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/2022/01/off-duty-huntsville-officer-involved-in-death-department-asks-state-to-investigate.html |access-date=January 8, 2022}}</ref> An advisory council created by the city<ref>{{cite web |title=Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council |url=https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/residents/public-safety/huntsville-police/police-operations/internal-affairs/citizens-advisory-council/ |website=City of Huntsville |access-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref> described actions by Huntsville Police department (HPD) as being "in a manner that was, at a minimum, unprofessional and on multiple occasions in violation of HPD policy."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Huntley |first1=Elizabeth H. |last2=Sharman |first2=Jackson R. III |date=April 22, 2021 |title=Report by Independent Counsel to The Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council |url=http://huntsvillepolicereview.com/documents/HPCAC_Comprehensive_Report.pdf |access-date=August 29, 2021 |page=13 of 248}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Remkus |first1=Ashley |title=Protest review finds 'unprofessional' behavior, policy violations by Huntsville police |url=https://www.al.com/news/2021/04/protest-review-finds-unprofessional-behavior-policy-violations-by-huntsville-police.html |access-date=August 29, 2021 |work=The Huntsville Times |date=April 23, 2021}}</ref>