In a report published by AL.com, figures pointed to half of the town's revenue had come from an increase in fines and forfeitures, including officers taking property during traffic stops. The town of Brookside, Alabama holds municipal court once a month. The citizens of this state and those traveling through this state should enjoy the opportunity to freely access our roadways, he said. All rights reserved. Which is another problem altogether, Sheriff Pettway said. This analysis suggests that whites receive substantially more favorable treatment with respect to warnings than other groups.. In an email to her May 29, 2019, Mike Jones defended the stop, and the ability to ticket outside of Brookside. The issue gained prominence in the wake of the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, a Black teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri, when a report by a St. Louis-area public defender group found that Black drivers in Ferguson were more likely to be stopped by police and local courts were abusing their power by charging high fines and fees for nonviolent offenses, sometimes leading to arrests when they went unpaid. That document budgeted $646,620 to the police this year. Brookside has 1,253 people, according to the most recent census. Source: Yahoo Images. The town also provided a set of police stats Jones presented to the Brookside council to push for more resources and authority. Harris lawyers contend she was taken to the Brookside jail, strip-searched, and told she could be jailed up to two days. Lawyers for eight people who say they were wronged by Brookside police on Wednesday filed an amended complaint in Alabama, arguing the town, the towing company it used to seize vehicles, and. Brookside now faces at least five lawsuits. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Jones is not alone in complaining about Brookside. And its not an idle threat. Police stacked fines on them, often towed their cars and generated revenue that went right back into the police department. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. WBRC FOX6 News has reached out to the Town of Brookside leaders for a response to the special report, and we will update this story when we receive a response. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. Jetts Towing owner Wayne Jett could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. [Montgomery, Alabama] Former Brookside Police Chief Dennis Ray McCoy, 53, of Dora, was recently convicted of several charges stemming from investigation by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), including using his official position for personal gain, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, obtaining criminal offender record information under false pretenses, and computer tampering. The release said the town has no further comment on Jones's resignation since it involves a "personnel matter." The town of 1,253 just north of Birmingham reported just 55 serious crimes to the state in the entire eight year period between 2011 and 2018 none of them homicide or rape. August 18, 2015 Aerial Videography of Brookside, Alabama Trails Five Mile Creek on the Alabama Birding Trail September 24, 2014 Brookside walkng trail has been added to the Appalchian Highlands Birding Trail web site! And 99% of them are lying.. Find 6 Police Departments within 8.3 miles of Brookside Police Department. The officer went on to say any more backlash like that towards his police department and itll be far worse than a ticket., I just stared at him, the man said. I think it could be more.. The Brookside Police Department's practices include stacking charges so that a single violation results in a handful of charges, with corresponding fines, fees and court costs for each. The Alabama Legislature this session passed a bill in response to Brookside that would cap at 10 percent the amount of revenue from fines and fees that a municipality can take in. He returned to his job as second in command with consent of the town council, Hudgens said. And theyre saying they were nowhere near Brookside.. Johnson, though it is unclear if Brookside had a Detective Johnson. Seven Brookside police officers have resigned since details of the towns aggressive policing strategy gained national attention in January. In fact, they said in November they didnt know how that money is spent. Savelle was second in command at Brookside, which came under fire two weeks ago when an AL.com story revealed a department so intent on ticketing and criminalizing motorists that by 2020 it came to draw half the towns revenue from fines and forfeitures. And so thats why I decided to fight.. And the police chief has called for more. This is at the corner of Roberta Road and Mulberry Road, which is far away from their city limits.. The military-styled vehicles have already been returned to the State, our police cars have been re-striped, and the Town is investing in new, easily identifiable uniforms for the police officers., Civil RICO case filed again by John Archibald. APOST oversees police certification in Alabama. I could take over the whole county with numbers like that, he joked. called for a financial audit by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, Mike Bryan has called for Brookside police to stop patrolling Interstate 22, State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, who represents the area surrounding Brookside, has called for the resignation of Bryan, Municipal Judge Jim Wooten and City Attorney/Prosecutor Mark Parnell, Givan and Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway want to hear more, and will hold a town hall meeting, Police in this tiny Alabama town suck drivers into legal black hole, Pastor, sister say rogue Alabama police force sought revenge, This Alabama county fastens ankle monitors on hundreds who arent convicted of crimes, Life on an ankle monitor in Alabama: $10 a day and inevitable imperfections, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. A man claims officers violated his civil rights and allegedly made-up charges. requested an audit of Brooksides town and police force, have called for bills to help curb small-town policing, sometimes appropriated by white supremacists, in the case of Rev. Find Brookside residential property records including property owners, sales & transfer history, deeds & titles, property taxes, valuations, land, zoning records & more. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Another would bar police from using unmarked cars for traffic stops. she added. A Peace Officer sworn in the State of Alabama can enforce the law anywhere in the State of Alabama, he wrote in an email. The news outlet found that Jones positioned officers to stop motorists so aggressively that income from traffic fines and forfeitures rose 640 percent from 2018 to 2020, from about $82,000 to more than $610,000. The audits show, however, how the town came to depend on the ticket money. Brookside police gave her a ticket in May of 2019 for running a stop sign at Roberta Road and Cherry Avenue across I-22 from Brookside. A 2019 report in Governing magazine found that fines and forfeitures account for more than 10 percent of general fund revenues for nearly 600 jurisdictions throughout the country, and in jurisdictions where fines accounted for more than 20 percent, the local median household income was less than $40,000. He saw so many people trying to park in the grassy field outside the municipal building that police had to direct traffic. In May of 2019, the month Brumlow was stopped, Brookside officers ticketed 75 people for driving in the left lane. The town of Brookside confirmed that Chief Mike Jones resigned from his position in a brief press release Tuesday afternoon. The BPD has managed to double the impoverished town's total income from 2018 to 2020 as a result of its 640% increase in fines and forfeitures. They were infatuated with Mike (Jones) because he was doing all this good for Brookside and they couldnt see any of the bad.. The courtroom and the parking lot are packed with people. An audit by the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts last week issued a report citing Brookside for myriad errors, including poor financial controls, missing guns and guns with no explanation. Name Brookside Police Department Suggest Edit Address 208 Main Street Brookside , Alabama , 35036 Phone 205-674-9275 Fax 205-674-9547 Brookside Police Department Details Type Savelle on Monday resigned from the Brookside Department, hours after AL.com asked city officials about his past. James Sebestain Bo Savelle III (Photo courtesy of Hoover Police). Even the claims of retaliation for social media posts are not unusual in Brookside. Two or three days later Brookside police stopped him again. He is still torn, wondering if he should have fought the town harder. Brookside Police Department leadership cast its enforcement dragnet too widely: Special Report on Brookside PD released, 2 adults, 1 juvenile charged in Kimberly kidnapping case, Cat, missing for 2 years, found nearly 1,600 miles away, police say, More parents choosing alternate education. The man is still afraid of retaliation, and asked for anonymity. That contributed a 14% chunk of the citys total income, a number that would be considered high in much of America. But my behavior was right. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. originally filed on behalf of Cory Thomas, AL.com in January reported how Brookside used fines and forfeitures, Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. The town also expanded its towing operations, going from 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020. As Brookside's earnings draw further scrutiny, with Givan planning a town hall Tuesday to allow people who say they've been exploited by the police force to come forward, advocacy organizations are emphasizing that it is no outlier and highlights how across the country, traffic fines and related fees are being used to fill municipal coffers at the expense of people who are often financially struggling and from communities of color. Stories from people stopped in the ticket-happy town continue to roll down like an avalanche, since AL.com last week published the story of how the tiny town turned to aggressive ticketing to build a ballooning police force that came to provide half the towns revenue. Like those on Dec. 2. Model policies and procedures adopted in many places around the country provide a new standard of professionalism for law enforcement organizations. Brookside, Alabama, a former mining community of about 1,250 with a median household income less than $40,000, has no traffic lights and only a handful of two-lane roads, yet it raked in so. Perform a free Brookside, AL public property records search, including property appraisals, unclaimed property, ownership searches, lookups, tax records, titles, deeds, and liens. Mayor Mike Bryan late Wednesday said there was no conspiracy, The Town has just been made aware of this amended lawsuit, Bryan told AL.com. I feel like they cant claim innocence in this situation., They saw dollar signs, she said of the mayors and the council. Jones resigned January 25th, six days after AL.com published a story outlining Brookside policing and a court system that collected 49 percent of the towns 2020 revenue from fines and forfeitures, a practice lambasted by residents, drivers, top law enforcement officials and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Officer Deshawn Mark Cook, who worked in Brookside as recently as Thursday, was arrested Friday on charges of first degree rape stemming from 2021. Brookside has operated its police and court system with the primary objective of obtaining revenue from motorists traveling on or near Interstate-22, Harris lawyers wrote in a suit filed last year. Not speeding, not swerving, just using the left lane. It's a story that is really egregious and heinous for a variety of reasons.". Jones could not be reached for comment on this report. By 2020 Brookside made more misdemeanor arrests than it has residents. Brookside, Alabama - a poor town, 70% white, 21% black with a small but growing Hispanic population and a median income "well below the state average" has made national news because of the Brookside Police Department (BPD). She thought the complaint was long forgotten or closed. Theres no way I was going to run that stop sign.. BROOKSIDE, Ala. (WBRC) - A special report regarding racial profiling in the Town of Brooksides Traffic Enforcement Program was released by the city-appointed investigator, former Circuit Court Judge Ken Simon. He reported that his Police Chief was mad.. Sheriff Pettway gaped at the Brookside ratio. They often say they had no idea why they were pulled over while passing near Brookside on Interstate 22. Find 12 external resources related to Brookside Police Department. 2023 County Office. The interim chief and Town leaders announced reforms within the police department in February 2022. But Jones was not the Chief at Brookside when he held himself out to be, using deception to disrespect that young deputy. Mike Jones, former police chief in the troubled Alabama town of Brookside, was arrested today on felony charges of impersonating a peace officer during a traffic stop in south Alabama. Franklin said she believes the only reason she wasnt arrested was because she works for Jefferson County. We dont care about tickets, Jones said. About a year ago, the former head of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police received several complaints about the Brookside Police Department. We get calls about Brookside quite regularly because they really go outside their jurisdiction to stop people, Pettway said. Please keep your posts factual and post links to reliable sources. Brookside, Ala., may only have 10 kilometres of roads, one store and a volunteer fire department, but its police force has an armoured truck; two police dogs; nine unmarked vehicles, seven. Sandra Jo Harris, a 52-year-old grandmother, claims in a lawsuit she pulled off I-22 at Cherry Avenue on Jan. 8, 2020, as she often did when she went to visit her daughter. Smart, targeted strategies administered in an even-handed fashion will maximize results and public support for Brookside. The office of state Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, declined to comment Friday about the traffic stops in Brookside. Jones was the highest earning officer before his resignation, at $16 an hour, not counting overtime. In the meantime, well continue to make good on our promises to reform policing in Brookside, said Mayor Bryan on Wednesday. I have never been in any trouble only had one speeding ticket. When he got to court Dec. 2, he saw scores of people just like him lining up to stand before Judge Jim Wooten, complaining of penny-ante crimes and harassment by officers. She agrees that there was selective enforcement. Mayor Bryan dismissed the complaints of those who must appear in court. Givan said this time she especially wants to hear from women. Ive never seen a possession case split like that, he said. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Another woman, Emily Sierra, emailed AL.com to say she was pulled over in Brookside three years ago for a single flash of her lights to warn oncoming traffic about a speed trap. She set out to challenge it. "Their whole financial existence starts to spiral, and it was all over a light on their car not working.". in the wake of news coverage about the arrest. Traffic tickets, and criminalizing those who passed through, became the citys leading industry. In a two-year period between 2018 and 2020 Brookside revenues from fines and forfeitures soared more than 640 percent and now make up half the citys total income. Brookside police made 4.4 arrests in 2020 for every household. Current Mayor Mike Bryan has called for Brookside police to stop patrolling Interstate 22, except for wrecks and emergencies. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). He had a net worth of $55,000 and a monthly income of $2,244, according to federal records. The caller identified himself as a Det. The affidavit says Jones told the Covington deputy he was the chief in Brookside, a town a couple hundred miles north, just past Birmingham. Police Trap, she posted in June of 2019. Seven Brookside police officers have resigned since January Published: Feb. 09, 2022, 10:00 a.m. Netta Womack tells her story about Brookside police at a town hall Tuesday February 1, 2022.. AL.com in January reported how Brookside used fines and forfeitures to bring in almost half the town revenue in 2020, and how its police department grew exponentially under Chief Jones. Ramon Perez showed up for court in December ready to fight traffic citations he got in Brookside. BROOKSIDE, Ala. (WBRC) - We're learning more about complaints against the Brookside Police Department, this time from other members of law enforcement. You cant do whats going on over there.. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Detective Johnson had called and asked that I come to the Brookside Police Department to talk to them. Brooksides police chief resigned in January 2022 following accusations of aggressive policing. The motive was to generate revenue for Brookside.. Mr. Bryan, as un-involved as he sounds, is as culpable as the others.. Audits by Philip Morgan & Co., covering at least five consecutive years, pointed out as a shortcoming that the town did not have a budget or a policy of adopting one annually. We will be reviewing the details of the allegations with the Towns legal counsel. Such an appearance is created when a vastly disproportionate number of citations are issued given the towns population, and a high number of citations involve minor mechanical and traffic offenses. It is what happened after the stop that is most concerning to him. But Brookside revenues from fines and forfeitures soared after that, and the towns law-enforcement goals and its reputation changed. But its a common charge in Brookside. Citizen and officer safety, and protection of constitutional rights, should be among the prime goals of such training. A Brookside officer ticketed Brumlow under Alabama code section 32-5-77, which her lawyers contend does not contain a crime. Dawson also represents Victoria Brumlow, a young woman who like hundreds more was stopped on I-22 and ticketed for driving on the left lane of the interstate. BROOKSIDE, Ala. - For the first time since bombshell reports regarding practices from Brookside Police department surfaced, the City Council held their monthly meeting Monday night.During the meeting, Interim Police Chief Henry Irby addressed the public on his vision for the department going forward. Jones said crime when he took over was higher than it appeared from numbers the town reported to the state. He seems to want to push the blame off on everybody else when he and (former mayor) Roger McCondichie both appointed Mike Jones knowing about his past. A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. More than half the Brookside officers resigned or were fired this year as more and more people came forward to tell their stories about mistreatment in Brookside. For context, Birmingham city would have to more than triple the size of its force to equal a ratio of that in Brookside. "What if $150 is the cost of choosing between feeding my child, getting their medicine or paying this ticket?" State Representative Juandalynn Givan isnt surprised by the report. But lawyers and law enforcement officers across central Alabama have raised questions about things in Brookside they say they have never otherwise come across. AL.com story revealed a department so intent on ticketing and criminalizing motorists, arrested Savelle for public intoxication and two counts of harassment that night. Do you understand what you are charged with? the judge asked on that first Thursday in December. Savelle was 32 at the time of his Hoover arrest, and was shown to have previous arrests for public intoxication, DUI, public lewdness, as well as multiple drug charges, the Hoover report said. He was charged with misdemeanor possession, but also five counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, for: The names of the officers were not listed on the tickets in secretive Brookside. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and GOP Lt. Gov. When he declared bankruptcy in 2019, Jones owed $300,000 in tax liens and $2.2 million in total claims. He was also ticketed for improper signal, though he cant even fathom how that might have occurred. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Ramon Perez felt that way as well, sitting in the courtroom and hearing defendants plead to the same charges over and over. It went from towing 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020 each carrying fines. Brookside until recently was known for its quirky Russian food festival and the states only onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church. People who were detained by Brookside officers beyond a traffic stop. His statement said he is not taking questions. Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, who spearheaded the change and grew the police department tenfold, at least, calls the towns policing a positive story. 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