Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin reduced his security detail by one person after taking office in November, his office confirmed.

"The detail was reduced by one person based on recommendations by police on how many were needed to effectively perform the job," said Rick Journey, director of communications for the mayor's office.

He said Woodfin asked for the reduction.

On the campaign trail, Woodfin often criticized the high cost of then-Mayor William Bell's security team.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year go into paying for Mayor Bell's security detail, which takes uniformed cops off our streets," Woodfin said in a column he wrote for AL.com in March 2017. "These officers could be patrolling our neighborhoods, but instead, they're protecting the mayor on the taxpayer's dime. The mayor of Birmingham doesn't need a full-time security detail, and as mayor, I would eliminate the security detail and have those officers reassigned to our highest-crime neighborhoods."

Bell's four-member security team cost the city more than $1.4 million in two and a half years, according to a AL.com report from 2014. The previous mayor's security detail averaged more than $400,000 a year in salary and overtime, even though the highest paid among them made $61,000 in regular pay.

Members of the security detail are assigned from the patrol division of the Birmingham Police Department.

AL.com took a closer look at Bell's security team after two members were involved in a shootout on the night of Nov. 30, 2012 while driving the mayor home. A man allegedly fired on the mayor's vehicle and another man. The police officers gave chase and returned fire injuring two people.

The incident resulted in two lawsuits being filed by a man and woman shot and injured by the officers. The lawsuits were dismissed in 2015.

From Nov. 28 through March, the combined salaries of Woodfin's security team total $71,436, according to Woodfin's office. Year-to-date for the same period one year ago, the combined salaries totaled $109,954.42.

The overall cost of the security detail is difficult to pinpoint, according to the mayor's office. The officers' salaries are in the patrol division's budget, and members of the team could receive overtime for special events and travel.

The city legal department declined to release the names of the police officers on the detail.

"The Birmingham police officers assigned from the patrol division to the security detail work to ensure a safe and secure environment for the mayor and those around him as he works in and outside of the city," Journey said in a statement. "In order to effectively do their jobs, they must discreetly assess the situation and any potential threats or hazards in any given situation. That calls for these officers to be able to blend into any given setting and not be easily identifiable."

He cited an Alabama law that exempts "records concerning security plans, procedures, assessments, measures or systems, and any other records relating to, or having an impact upon, the security of safety of persons, structures, facilities or other infrastructures" from being released to be public.

The disclosure of these police officers' names "would limit them to effectively perform the basic functions of their jobs," Journey said.