Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall wasted little time acknowledging his appreciation for Alabama’s law enforcement officers at the Tuesday meeting of the Troy Rotary Club.

“This has been a tough year for law enforcement,” Marshall told the Rotarians. “Alabama is seeing an alarming increase in gun violence against law enforcement officers.”

Marshall said six law enforcement officers have been killed in Alabama and he has sat with the families of some of those officers, whom he said are heroes.

“One of the officers had a four-year-old daughter who said she would never get to talk to her daddy again,” Marshall said. “At UAB there were four officers who were shot but their lives were not lost.”

Marshall said the families of law enforcement officers make a tremendous sacrifice.

“When I leave home in the morning, the expectations are that I will come back home,” he said. “But, when a law enforcement officer leaves home, there is no guarantee that he/she will come home safely. It is a disturbing trend that violent crimes are back with us.”

Marshall praised former U.S. Alabama Senator and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his efforts to keep communities safe from violent crime and for making priority justice reform a priority.

“Keeping bad guys in jail is how we keep our streets safe,” Marshall said. He expressed his concern that pardon and parole boards are not doing their due diligence in making sure that those before the boards are not released too early.

He cited one inmate who was released and then killed two women.

“The boards should do their jobs in making sure that others don’t lose their lives,” he said.

Marshall expressed his concerns about increasing drug use, about phone scams, about human trafficking, about the potential loss of Congressional seats and about identity theft.

He pledged his dedication to making and keeping Alabama a safe place to do business and to live and raise a family.

Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas thanked Marshall for taking time to speak to the Troy Rotarians and for always making himself accessible to law enforcement.

“Attorney General Steve Marshall understands what law enforcement is up against on a daily basis,” Thomas said. “He is always receptive to what we have to say and is open to suggestions of ways to do what we do better and in safer. Attorney General Marshall is a strong voice for law enforcement in the Legislature and we appreciate what he does, not just for law enforcement but for all Alabama.”