Chief Scott Thurmond joined the Birmingham Police Department in 1998. His career began in the Patrol Bureau at the North Precinct where he served the Titusville and Smithfield communities from 1999-2005 as a patrolman and Field Training Officer. In 2005, he was assigned to the Burglary Unit in the Investigative Bureau where he served the citizens of the East Precinct. Two years later, in 2007, Chief Thurmond was promoted to the rank of sergeant and assigned to the West Precinct Morning Shift in the Patrol Bureau.
In 2008, Chief Thurmond was transferred to the Homicide Unit in the Investigative Bureau and worked there as a sergeant until 2013 when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Upon being promoted to Lieutenant, he was transferred to the South Precinct as the Day Shift Patrol Commander. Three years later, in 2015, Chief Thurmond returned to the Homicide Unit as the commander of that unit. In 2018, he became the Interim Commander of the newly formed Robbery/Homicide Division. Being promoted to the rank of Captain a year later, in 2019, Chief Thurmond served as the West Precinct Commander in the Patrol Bureau. In 2021, Chief Thurmond was assigned as the Executive Assistant to the Investigative Bureau Deputy Chief. On January 28, 2022, Chief Thurmond was appointed as the Acting Chief of Police for the Birmingham Police Department and was appointed as the Chief of Police on June 24, 2022, by Mayor Randall L. Woodfin.