Alabama Speed Trap Town's PD Called Out On Its Bullshit By Nearby Sheriff, Limps On Without Most Of Its Officers
from the please-let-the-door-hit-you-in-the-ass-repeatedly dept
No one cuts cops more slack than other cops. You really have to be an impressive kind of awful to lose the support of your Thin Blue Line brothers and sisters.
But the police department in Brookside, Alabama has managed to do exactly that. For years, no one had heard of or cared that the town of Brookside even existed… and that possibly includes a percentage of the town's 1,253 inhabitants.
That all changed when a new sheriff rolled into town, so to speak. It wasn't a sheriff (because the county already had one) but a new police chief, Mike Jones. Where town leaders may have seen nothing more than a vacancy in its two-employee department, Jones saw opportunity. He soon turned Brookside into Nottingham, Alabama, patrolling nearby highways to hit drivers passing by the small town with multiple fines and fees. Officers also engaged in unnecessary towing of vehicles over minor traffic violations, and apparently made up laws to justify stops, seizures, and traffic citations.
Chief Jones was hired in 2018. From 2018 to 2020, fines and fees from traffic citations rose 600%. This windfall went directly to expanding the revenue stream. Chief Jones hired seven more officers, obtained two drug dogs, one MRAP, and the disdain of nearby law enforcement officials. He also incurred the wrath of an untold number of Alabama residents, who were soon making trips to Brookside to attend once-a-month traffic court sessions -- sessions that resulted in Brookside officers being forced to route traffic and oversee parking for this monthly influx of out-of-towners.
The county sheriff had already received several complaints about the traffic enforcement extortion being performed by Brookside officers, who often operated in unmarked vehicles while wearing uniforms that gave no indication which law enforcement agency employed them. A nearby district attorney called the town a "black hole" where drivers are subjected to rights violations, harassment, and bogus citations.
National exposure caused this real life Boss Hogg to resign his position as police chief. And the Brookside PD is experiencing something most law enforcement agencies never do: criticism from their supposed brothers in arms.
As a local lawmaker held a second town hall to focus on policing in the tiny town of Brookside, the stories kept coming. Many told about being stranded on the side of the road. People spoke of stolen money, seized guns, towed cars and lost jobs. People shared stories of getting 11 or even 12 tickets in one traffic stop.
And the sheriff of Jefferson County, Mark Pettway, encouraged them to fight the charges in court.
“If you have a ticket and have not gone to court yet,” he told the crowd, “when you do go to court, plead not guilty.”
Again, he said, “When you go to court, plead not guilty.”
When other cops are telling civilians how to beat the rap, you know you've fucked up. The fact that "multiple state agencies" are now investigating the department is another clue.
It's not just cars Brookside cops were after. They'd take any property they could get their hands on.
One man, Jordan Cole, said Brookside was investigating his brother for car theft but ended up seizing his family’s home and arresting his elderly and disabled mother on a charge of hindering prosecution.
“They made us leave and we were told that if we step foot back on the property, we would be arrested,” Cole said. He said his family had to find somewhere else to live and ended up renting a run-down mobile home.
So far, the small town's governance has yet to turn on the PD. In fact, the town's officials have refused to step down, offering their far-from-tacit approval of the abuses that went on under Chief Jones. Not that their endorsement of the PD matters at this point. The exposure of the PD as a group of thieves and thugs wandering nearby roads has been enough to result in the resignation of most of the police force. Brookside will have to adjust to being just another insignificant dot on the road map, rather than an insatiable predator willing to convert residents of other towns into ATMs the PD's band of thieves could hit again and again.
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Filed Under: alabama, brookside, speed trap
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A cop so beyond the pale…
…that the rest of the cops aren't being bastards? What kind of fantasyland am I living in? BRB, I'm going to pinch myself…
*OW!*
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Re: A cop so beyond the pale…
Welcome back :P
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Felony Corruption Charges??
So, are the cops and chief being seriously investigated and charged??? I mean, they did commit 100s if not 1000s of crimes. They should be brought up on all of them, exactly as I get if anyone else had committed multiple crimes.
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Re: Felony Corruption Charges??
... but it is still (probably) not RICO.
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Re: Felony Corruption Charges??
Highly unlikely, one of the major perks of being a cop other than the ability to rob/assault/murder with near-immunity is that if the heat gets too bad and it's looking like your badge might not be able to save you this time is that you can just quit(at that particular department) and all possible charges just disappear in smoke.
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Re: Felony Corruption Charges??
Well the chief, his top stoolie have both quit, followed by most of the henchmen. the municipal court is suspended. The AG is investigating, but I don't think it's the actual officers considering that most tickets are not actually signed by àn identifiable officer, rather most have 1 of a few sets of initials that doesn't actually match any officer names. I bet the chief has enough money to up and disappear if he wants
The mayor, prosecutor and municipal court seemed to be fully on board with the cops, and some especially egregious actions have come to light about the court. But some how I I assume they will have some kind of protection from liability, even though the Bill of Rights explicitly lays out what the government is not allowed to do
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Brookside, Alabama
Yes, my wheels keep on turning
Through some towns that I've been in
But I'm wary of the southland
Goin' through 'Bamy once again
Where drivin's a sin, yes
Well I heard about the seizures
And the fines for drivin' through town
Well I hope Mike Jones will remember
A travellin' man don't need him around anyhow
Brookside Alabama
Look out for the boys in blue
Brookside Alabama
They'll be comin' after you
It seems they upset the Lieutenant Governor
He didn't like what they did do
Hey there copper, why'd you bother me?
You got no conscience to bother you?
Tell the truth
Brookside Alabama
Look out for the boys in blue
Brookside Alabama
They'll be comin' after you
Lanyard Schoolyard
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MRAP?
I'm not American, so I had to look up the term "MRAP".
Imagine my amazement when my search returned a bunch of pictures of armoured military vehicles.
Police don't need those, armies do.
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Re: MRAP?
Armies don't really need them either -- they are really good at keeping the peasants in-line, though
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Re: MRAP?
I both agree and disagree with this. For most tasks, a vehicle like this is very ill suited and it others it's just overkill. But there is one case to be made for them - cordoning off operational areas. Relatively heavy, damage resistant vehicles make for excellent roadblocks, and can drive off on their own power once the situation is over, unlike concrete donkeys and other inanimate building materials. So there is a time and place for police to use armored vehicles. A small town police department with two officers and a dog is not it. Also any old surplus armored personnel carriers would do, or even just trucks or pickups. No need for a specifically mine resistant unit. If mines / IEDs are involved, things have escalated way beyond police action.
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Re: MRAP?
I'm not sure why you'd be surprised given the news over the years, but if you see arguments about terms like "defund the police", this is what they actually mean. Less military toys, more training in ways to defuse situations without shooting people.
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On the plus side, the writers for "Ozark" now have a bunch of new source material.
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Brookside will have to adjust to being just another insignificant dot on the road map, rather than an insatiable predator willing to convert residents of other towns into ATMs the PD's band of thieves could hit again and again.
I'm sure they'd like to go back to being considered just another insignificant dot on the map but after national attention to their rampant corruption and the town's apparent refusal to condemn it even now that's probably not what anyone nearby will think when they hear the town's name, and that's assuming they aren't just waiting for the attention to die down before going right back to robbing anyone that makes the mistake of getting near the town.
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President stop the. Violence herman Henderson this. Went on for year of complant the law did nothing we will stay forcus on this and fit this problem so no one will experience this again
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Huh if all of these people plead not guilty, will they end up having court more than once a month?
Its would be "horrible" /sarcasm if the city had to spend twice what they took in trying to adjudicate all of the cases.
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Re:
Oh what a delightful thought, a judge accustomed to running people through their portion of the town's robbery machine suddenly having defendant after defendant with the utter audacity to contest the charges rather than meekly handing over the money, that must be so vexxing for them.
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Pattern and Practice
It sounds as though the city fathers were well aware of the police activity, and both condoned and profited from it. That may mean that they adopted the police practices as municipal policies.
If some Alabama atty can make that stick, the town is going to be on the hook for a great amount of money. Even if not, there is some risk that the people whose personalty was taken might bring claims.
The town's defense may be made more difficult by the disappearance of Chief Robbing Hood and his Merry Men.
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