Brookside has two drug-sniffing dogs one named K9 Cash to search the cars of stopped motorists. The office of state Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, declined to comment Friday about the traffic stops in Brookside. Chief Henry Irby, hired to try to restore credibility to the disgraced Brookside Police Department, speaks to the town council . But my behavior was right. It's a story that is really egregious and heinous for a variety of reasons.". He told me it would be in my best interest if I just shut the F up, she said. For driving with an expired tag. By 2020 Brookside made more misdemeanor arrests than it has residents. reported to the state very little serious crime one robbery and no murders. The release said the town has no further comment on Jones's resignation since it involves a "personnel matter." BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The Alabama House passed a bill that would make it illegal to move police jurisdiction signs. Everybodys got a story, he said. 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 quickly built a roster of officers, some with questionable pasts that made them more loyal, adding new staff every quarter until the force eventually topped out at 13, not counting reserves. Wattson claims he was unaware of the drugs. Seven Brookside police officers have resigned since details of the town's aggressive policing strategy gained national attention in January. Address, Phone Number, and Fax Number for Brookside Police Department, a Police Department, at Main Street, Brookside AL. They told me they dont give blankets, she said. Not for speeding, or running a stop sign, or any violation. For context, Birmingham city would have to more than triple the size of its force to equal a ratio of that in Brookside. It is what happened after the stop that is most concerning to him. A client came to him after she was stopped for driving in the left lane of the interstate, a crime he insists did not exist at the time. It was nearing dusk, and as she drove into the neighborhood she didnt think much about the unmarked black SUV with tinted windows on the side of the road. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. But Jones sold Brookside a vision of how to turn a sleepy department into an intimidating and lucrative force. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. She complained directly to then-Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones. She said she tried to record the interaction after three officers in two vehicles pulled her car over, but an officer with a valknot symbol a Norse sign sometimes appropriated by white supremacists on a ring and one of his gun clips confiscated her phone. Ramon Perez felt that way as well, sitting in the courtroom and hearing defendants plead to the same charges over and over. Arrest Files Date Published: 03/03/2023. The town of Brookside confirmed that Chief Mike Jones resigned from his position in a brief press release Tuesday afternoon. Officers said they stopped her because the tag light on her Honda Odyssey was not visible from 50 feet away. Lacey Shelton experienced that when she was jailed last year on charges she disputes. Two or three days later Brookside police stopped him again. Find 12 external resources related to Brookside Police Department. It was more than the car was worth in fines, she said. In 2018 total revenue for the town of Brookside was $586,000. brookside, alabama police jurisdiction map. Jones blamed the lawsuits on ambulance-chasing attorneys.. She fought it instead. Thats my (late) husbands boat, she said. Sheriff Pettway said those who face charges in Brookside and want to ensure justice can get a bond and appeal their case. Time after time they say they were pulled over by multiple officers in multiple vehicles for minor charges such as expired tag or following too closely, that they were searched, towed, and forced to pay large fines for violations many say they did not commit. Monday afternoon former Birmingham Police Officer Montague Minnifield became at least the eighth person to sue Brookside over its police and court systems. (Joe Songer for al.com).Joe Songer. At the time, Jones was still president of the Helena City Council, though it was reported he later stopped attending meetings when his private security business began to struggle. 2023 Police Jurisdiction Deannexations, Ordinances and Maps, Local Cities and Counties Tax Rates Text File, Alabama Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, 2016 Police Jurisdiction Annexations, Deannexations & Ordinances, 2015 Police Jurisdiction Annexations, Deannexations & Ordinances. Brookside until recently was known for its quirky Russian food festival and the states only onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church. 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. They tell, with consistency, of specious tickets and arrests, of retaliation by a police department and by a chief who challenged those who questioned him as he sought to build an empire on the backs of drivers. He was charged with 31 counts of criminal littering, and town Judge Wooten had fined him $14,268. According to AL.com's investigation, Jones, who was hired in 2018, built a police department of 10 or more full-time and part-time officers to patrol Brookside's 6 miles of roads and 1 mile jurisdiction along Interstate 22, a corridor between Birmingham and Memphis, Tennessee. She set out to challenge it. Brookside is a poster child for policing for profit, said Carla Crowder, the director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, a nonprofit devoted to justice and equity. Five others resigned Jan. 28, and Jones second-in-command, former Lt. James Bo Savelle III, resigned Jan. 31, resigned after questions about his past. Most of the vehicles Brookside Police drive are unmarked, and tinted. Officers appeared to approach drivers with the presumption that they were guilty of something, many drivers would later say. The Alabama Legislature in the last week of this years session passed a bill sponsored in the Senate by a Republican and in the House by a Democrat that bars municipalities from using fines and traffic fees to supply more than 10 percent of their budgets. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. She wore a tank top and was denied a long-sleeved shirt. While police filled the cells by citing the letter of the law to drivers, they did not apply that standard to themselves. I was just looking at him like, so this is what this stop is about?. Chana Hodges handles billing at a mom-and-pop medical supply store in nearby Fultondale, Ala. She recounts a day in 2020 when her boss walked to the cubicle and told her a police officer was looking for her. Brittany Coleman is fighting Brookside, Alabama over its abusive fines. The Planning Jurisdictions and City/Town Limits in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. Another would bar police from using unmarked cars for traffic stops. John Minyard told his story at a Brookside town hall meeting. She said one officer told her Well, we didnt say it wasnt working. All rights reserved (About Us). We were required to be jailers as well, but had no formal training.. It parked a riot control vehicle townspeople call it a tank outside the municipal complex and community center. Brookside now faces at least five lawsuits. What could I have done to warrant police from a different city showing up at my work to arrest me?, The answer would come soon, as the first officer spoke: Do you remember getting a ticket in Brookside?. Eventually she was given an inhaler and treated by paramedics. People who were stopped by Brookside police and fined more than the state allows. The town survives on the fringes of Birmingham with tax revenue from the Dollar General, which forms the totality of its commercial district. Most of the time people get stopped, theyre going to get a ticket. Others werent so fortunate. That document budgeted $646,620 to the police this year. It was something that I should not have been stopped for, Brumlow said in sworn testimony. Cars were towed for failure to show insurance, for not having a drivers license, and lawsuits now claim officers frequently ignored insurance paperwork as an excuse to tow cars. But on Wednesday morning, she said, she got a call from the Alabama Attorney Generals investigator who had worked the case after her complaint was filed in 2019. Netta Womack tells her story about Brookside police at a town hall Tuesday February 1, 2022. A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. In addition, she said, counting on fines and fees collected from people in lower income and marginalized communities only serves to punish them further. 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). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. To report a criminal tax violation,please call (251) 344-4737, To report non-filers, please emailtaxpolicy@revenue.alabama.gov. Then she saw the officer tap the radio on his chest. Hall did appeal, and a Jefferson County judge ultimately dismissed the charges. Circuit Judge Shanta Craig Owens threw out another 41 cases on appeal from Brookside involving more than a dozen people, calling the evidence garbage. She said she would not consider a case credible if the only witness was a Brookside police officer. The town faces several state investigations, and has brought in outside help to rebuild the department. City officials have said they cannot comment on personnel issues, though they did provide, as part of the records request, a breakdown of officer pay. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. We made the decision that we wouldnt do that again, that this would just be a self-contained Brookside, said council member Chris McCondichie, the former mayors son. She was taken to jail and told she couldnt leave without a $500 cash bond and $206 she still owed on the original offense. Visibility was low and she was driving cautiously, she said. As a single mom that really messed me up, she said. The officer had identified himself only by an agent number. Lawyer Bill Dawson, who has filed multiple lawsuits against Brookside, first became aware of the towns overreach in 2019. They would not share the footage. The primary function of the Police Department is deterring crime, stopping crimes in progress, investigating crimes, and serving as first responders for emergencies and situations that threaten public safety. Reporting Agency: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Alabama. Officers in Brookside have been accused in lawsuits of manufacturing reasons for traffic stops, overcharging and "making up laws," AL.com reported. I could take over the whole county with numbers like that, he joked. Dawson argued in a lawsuit against Brookside and Chief Jones that Brookside has continuously used the false left lane violation as a reason to stop and detain hundreds of motorists. Brookside Mayor Mike Bryan said in a statement, We cannot comment on the lawsuits filed Monday. Find Arrest Records, Police Records, and Warrants related to Brookside Police Department. Since news broke in late January of how police in Brookside, Alabama, allegedly were preying on motorists to pay their own salaries, all eyes have been on the hamlet that appears to have . Top FB Transfers; Latest FB Transfers; By Position FB Transfers; NCAA FB It showed that total arrests custodial, misdemeanor and felony rose 1,109% from 2018 to 2020. The complaint alleges numerous constitutional violations, and we believe the citizens need to be protected from illegal actions by the Town of Brookside.. It comes in the . By the time she found it the storage fees topped $2,000. All rights reserved (About Us). A dark, seemingly unmarked SUV pulled behind her, she said. She wondered if her family was OK as she walked past coworkers and customers. He and members of the town council complained of slow response times from the county, and of drug infestations in and around the area. This Court has jurisdiction over this case under 28 U.S.C. Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr asked judges to drop 69 felony drug charges that originated in Brookside, along with 22 associated misdemeanors, saying he did not want to be associated with a rogue police force.. Alabama Senate candidate Lisa Ward said ex-Chief Jones tried to intimidate her in a social media message after she shared the AL.com story on Facebook. Vincent Witt, who sued Brookside after his treatment there. Michelle Jones made an official complaint to the Alabama Attorneys Generals office three years ago, arguing that Brookside police stopped her out of jurisdiction, issued a bogus citation and threatened her with more charges after she criticized them on Facebook. By 2020 - due almost entirely to aggressive policing - it rose to $1.2 million. The town announced that all police cars and uniforms would be clearly marked. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. When she called town hall a few days later, she was told Brookside needed the officers name to determine the location of the car, she said. Months of research and dozens of interviews by AL.com found that Brooksides finances are rocket-fueled by tickets and aggressive policing. He agreed to represent his niece in her traffic case. The chiefs pretty upset about that post you put on Facebook, he recalled the officer saying. When Jones was hired as chief in 2018, he was the only full-time police officer, he said in sworn testimony for a lawsuit . Stories of how Alabama legal systems criminalize poverty. Fines . IE 11 is not supported. Chief Jones resigned on Jan. 25. Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway said the same. I had two boats in my boat shed and he put stickers on both of them and told me, because I didnt have updated tags on them that they were gonna tow em, Pickle said. You cant do whats going on over there.. The towns administrative expenditures rose 40% and overall spending jumped 112%, from $553,000 in 2018 to $1.2 million in 2020. The town of Brookside, Alabama holds municipal court once a month. This story was published with the support of a grant from Columbia Universitys Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. Chief Jones testified under oath that just one of the 10 Brookside vehicles is painted with police striping, but nine others bear no emblems, and seven are tinted all the way around, making it impossible to see inside. And the only way theyd be able to get out of jail is if they accepted Christ. He left Brookside and has not commented publicly. The problem for those alleging misconduct is that officers may be immune from lawsuits if their actions are found to be a part of their official duties, Dawson said. Town leaders did not question. She turned on her lights, according to her lawsuit, because of the approaching darkness. If he saw you and he was riding down the street, he would embarrass you in your front yard., She said she once questioned Jones methods in a public meeting, and he pulled up outside her house a little later. Between April 2018 and June 2020, they handed out 406 of those tickets, or about 15 a month, according to documents filed in the lawsuit. And its not an idle threat. He looked closer and noticed troublesome code words that offered vague excuses such as driver acted nervous to justify questionable stops. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. The transformation of Brooksides police department began in 2018, under the direction of long-serving and now late Mayor Roger McCondichie. Brookside Police Department Contact Information. The complaint seeks to establish four classes of people who were stopped and extorted by the town of Brookside, Jetts Towing Co. or the officers. Like those on Dec. 2. Will Ainsworth requested a state audit, and amid calls for state and federal investigations. Brookside is a poor town, 70% white, 21% Black, with a small but growing Hispanic population and a median income well below the state average. Read more stories from our Banking on Crime series: If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. In May of 2019, the month Brumlow was stopped, Brookside officers ticketed 75 people for driving in the left lane. In Brookside, complaints about retaliation have come time and time again, as in the case of Rev. The town required drivers to pay $175 in restitution to receive a release form nothing but a piece of paper to take to Jetts to reclaim their car. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The chief of police at a northern Jefferson County police department resigned on Tuesday. Baggett and the officers went back to look at the tag light, and it worked. I think its one of those situations that could possibly bring in the feds with some oversight, he said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Nationally, the average size of a force is one officer for every 588 residents, according to a Governing Magazine study that relied on federal statistics. (Fiscal Year Oct- Sept) Year #Tickets . At least three bills are now before the Legislature that would affect those cities. Cordero Doss Jr Junior was Arrested/Booked on Thursday March 2nd 2023. She did. Jones and Bryan said neither the town nor the police department relies on the revenue officers bring in. The suit also names 23 current and former officers as individual defendants. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Related: Pastor, sister say rogue police force sought revenge. Jetts Towing owner Wayne Jett could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. Another Brookside cop ran from the rear of the building, where he had positioned himself to prevent her escape. "You're taking the money for them to potentially get that light fixed by making them pay a fine.". It can happen anywhere, and it should not have to happen on this scale -- with college students stranded on the side of the road, and pastors mistreated for driving nice cars, and unlabeled evidence strewn about a police station for reform to happen.. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Instead, the arresting officer was listed as Agent JS, while the assisting officer was Agent AR.. They opted for a more aggressive approach, and found just the man for the job: Mike Jones. When Jones was hired as chief in 2018, he was the only full-time police officer, he said in sworn testimony for a lawsuit filed against him and the city. She paid the $160 ticket and began to make her case through emails to public officials, complaints, a television interview and elsewhere. All Rights Reserved. Brookside is one tiny place that caught the brief attention of the nation and could help people understand the dangers of using law enforcement to fund governments, she said. Baggett asked about her vehicle on the way. (WBRC) The city now announcing several steps to reform the police department. The Brookside police staff, based on this data, came to one officer for every 84 residents in January. Sorry for the typo, the mayor wrote. The resignations include former chief Mike Jones, who built the tiny towns department from a one-man agency in 2018 to one that, according to data the town provided to AL.com in response to a public records request, included 13 full time officers and two reserves. Advocates for justice reform, cops in other jurisdictions, even Jefferson Countys top law enforcement officials, have begun to question the towns tactics, and its need for an expanding force. It was enforced by those he picked despite their backgrounds to be police officers. McDonald began to struggle with the ethics of it. He lent his car to a friend, who was pulled over and arrested for drug possession. Police charged Harris with flickering her lights or nuisance of casting lights from motor vehicle on real property at night, which she argues did not happen and eventually was dropped. I said, Where are yall taking my car? she said. I wouldnt be surprised if they opened up an investigation. Jones had been a cop in nearby Shelby County, in the affluent suburbs south of Birmingham. Brookside Police Department, Jefferson County, Alabama. I saw him and we looked eye to eye, the Chelsea business owner said. The arresting officers were gone. Hodges made monthly payments to chip away at the $400 fine, but moved away and forgot about it after paying about half. In 2018 total revenue for the town of Brookside was $586,000. 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). Another, the second-leading ticket-giver between 2018 and 2020, according to records filed in a lawsuit against the town, had been ticketed eight times by other agencies for speeding, four times for driving with no seat belt, twice for driving without insurance, twice for driving without a visible tag, and once this one years ago for driving on a suspended license. 2. The Brookside council passed three ordinances as part of the ongoing reforms. When drivers asked why they were being treated as criminals, officers responded, as Jeanetta Jones claims they did to her, by saying they were the police, and could do what they wanted. The Birmingham News recently investigated the tiny town of Brookside, Alabama, a place "with no traffic lights and one retail store [that] collected $487 in fines and forfeitures for every man . Jones said crime when he took over was higher than it appeared from numbers the town reported to the state. Police gave him a ticket for running a stop sign, which he disputed. Traffic tickets increased more than 600 percent in a single year, arrests almost 450 percent. Published: Feb. 8, 2022 at 3:58 PM PST. Allan Armstrong, one of a group of lawyers who filed the complaint, said Brookside violated basic American rights. Bryan told a supportive crowd that he is working to build a better future in a way that makes families feel safe. Shed worked for years in emergency services, but she and other dispatchers were thrust with little preparation into the job of sending new officers where they needed to go, all while using ill-suited computer equipment salvaged from Jones private security business, she said. And the police chief has called for more. A Brookside officer ticketed Brumlow under Alabama code section 32-5-77, which her lawyers contend does not contain a crime. "This city is a ticking, ticking time bomb waiting to explode," state Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who has called for other town officials to resign, told the NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham. The police departments Facebook page it claims more than a million visitors became a vehicle for public shaming with embarrassing mugshots and derision for those who owe fines and fees Turn yourself in. Hed been stopped for rolling the stop sign, which he disputes, and speeding, which he also disputes. He said he also represented a woman who was stopped in 2019 for driving in the left lane of I-22, which was not technically a crime, and accused police of using a "false left-lane violation" to ensnare motorists. Free Honea Path Property Records Search. The examiners sharp report was released this month, outlining missing guns, poor financial practices and shoddy storage of evidence, including an unmarked trash bag filled with prescription medicines that did not seem to be associated with any particular case. Will Ainsworth requested a state audit, and amid calls for state and federal investigations. Because people overwhelmed by debt have been shown to turn to crime to pay their fines an argument can be made that this kind of policing creates crime, Crowder said. Government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Brookside hired Ken Simon, a former circuit judge and current member of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, to investigate its own department. The officers, though many, were not well paid. Baggett was driving on a suspended license, though the suspension had ended and she hadnt had the money to have it reinstated. What happened in Brookside is a lesson for all those who fail to see the signs in Brookside or elsewhere and do nothing, said Carla Crowder, the director of Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice. The courtroom and the parking lot are packed with people. Town officials ignored signs of trouble because they were so infatuated with the influx of money that they had blinders on, she said. She was ticketed for improper tag light and driving while suspended, and her vehicle was towed. Guns, money and drugs were tossed recklessly about, as the town arrested more people, and confiscated more property than workers or facilities could handle. He feels the police saw him as prey, and treated him as such. In 2020, she had explained her case this way to the AGs office: The person threatened me with an arrest if I did not take down my Facebook pictures and posts of their police officers, stop sending emails to the local politicians, as well as others, and show them (Brookside police) that I understand law enforcement practices.. 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. The man is still afraid of retaliation, and asked for anonymity. The law we enacted will prevent abuses like those in Brookside from being repeated elsewhere in Alabama, said Lt. Gov. I feel bad for those guys who struggle, Perez 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. Terms and Conditions. But those town bosses wanted a big, professional police department. The growth has come with trouble to match. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 3. But Jones wanted his force to show force. He was very ugly from the start.. 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. Shes in my sight.. Click on a feature to learn more. II. [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. Brookside has 1,253 people, according to the most recent census. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. A report quoted in the suit claimed she tighten (sic) arm muscles from getting handcuff (sic).. 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. By 2020, McDonald had seen enough. (a) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the police jurisdiction in municipalities having 6,000 or more inhabitants shall cover all adjoining territory within three miles of the corporate limits, and in municipalities having less than 6,000 inhabitants, the police jurisdiction shall cover all adjoining . Brookside, Alabama, became a notorious speed trap after it hired a new police chief in 2018. McDonald recalled the way Jones ordered staffers not to adjust the temperature in the towns jail cells, so it would remain cold all the time. She remembered being pulled over five years before. Some residents worried the growing fleet of military equipment lined up outside town hall sent an unwelcoming message. Neither the mayor nor chief would talk about pending litigation, but both said they have reviewed the cases involved, including bodycam footage, and said they found no wrongdoing on the citys part. The man had admitted to the police and to the former mayor that he had dumped trash, though his lawyer argued the confession was coerced and the charges based on dates the police simply guessed about. Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, who spearheaded the change and grew the police department tenfold, at least, calls the towns policing a positive story. Mayor Mike Bryan a former councilman who assumed his position last year after the death of the previous mayor sits and nods in agreement. BROOKSIDE, Ala. (WBRC) - A new audit of the town of Brookside released by the Alabama Dept. Fairness and real justice, I believe, is something people are looking for when it comes to law enforcement.
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