Leadership at every level of government is required to make our cities and towns safer. A report quoted in the suit claimed she tighten (sic) arm muscles from getting handcuff (sic).. It's a story that is really egregious and heinous for a variety of reasons.". Brumlow pleaded not guilty, and had to go to court over and over again as the case was postponed. For most of the past decade it saw little crimeonly 55 . A manager at Dave & Busters in Hoover in 2019 called police on a man named James Bo Savelle III. Some of the charges Savelle has faced predate his hiring at Brookside. "Ferguson made us realize it wasn't just Ferguson," said Priya Sarathy Jones, the national campaign director at the Fines and Fees Justice Center,which advocates for fees to be eliminated in the justice system and fines to be equitably enforced. she added. I clearly did not run the stop sign as I had just seen them sitting on top of I-22 overpass. Starting on Page 3 of the report Simon wrote, Our analysis of Brooksides traffic citations did not produce strong statistical evidence of racial profiling in traffic stops. 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 23 current and former police officers conspired to take money and property from drivers. You cant do whats going on over there.. Monday afternoon former Birmingham Police Officer Montague Minnifield became at least the eighth person to sue Brookside over its police and court systems. It did not feature a breakout of the police department. However, our analysis did find significant evidence of selective enforcement with respect to warning tickets. 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. 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. Brookside officers have been accused in lawsuits of fabricating charges, using racist language and making up laws to stack counts on passersby. Smart, targeted strategies administered in an even-handed fashion will maximize results and public support for Brookside. The town faces several state investigations, and has brought in outside help to rebuild the department. Jones is not alone in complaining about Brookside. The charges against Savelle were misdemeanors, meaning they wouldnt necessarily disqualify him from being certified as a police officer in Alabama, even if he had been convicted. But Jones was not the Chief at Brookside when he held himself out to be, using deception to disrespect that young deputy. Over the last several months, the Brookside Police Department has faced scrutiny over its ticketing practices, as well as alleged corruption. "You're taking the money for them to potentially get that light fixed by making them pay a fine.". He stated that I issued threats, incited a riot, and slandered the Brookside Police Department in my Facebook posts. All rights reserved (About Us). Jones and Bryan said neither the town nor the police department relies on the revenue officers bring in. Officers in Brookside have been accused in lawsuits of manufacturing reasons for traffic stops, overcharging and "making up laws," AL.com reported. The motive was to generate revenue for Brookside.. They would not share the footage. 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. It went from towing 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020 each carrying fines. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. Alabama state rep. calls for Brookside mayor's resignation amid ticketing scandal, told the NBC affiliate WVTM in Birmingham, wake of the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, Attorney describes 'debtors' prison' scheme targeting poor minorities. Minnifield says he was a passenger in car stopped for driving with an improper tag, and that he was detained, among other things. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. And theyre saying they were nowhere near Brookside.. I see a 600% increase thats a failure. We encourage Brookside to form more partnerships with local, state and federal authorities to fully take back the town. It showed that total arrests custodial, misdemeanor and felony rose 1,109% from 2018 to 2020. I can stand a thief better than a dirty cop. About a year ago, the former head of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police received several complaints about the Brookside Police Department. Please keep your posts factual and post links to reliable sources. Find agency contact, demographics, type, population served and more. Suggest Listing (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. It is what happened after the stop that is most concerning to him. . Type: The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. But in 2018 it began building a police empire, hiring more and more officers to blanket its six miles of roads and mile-and-a-half jurisdiction on Interstate 22. Another town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 6 pm at Birminghams Carver High School. And local court officials have thrown out or called into question more than 100 cases involving Brookside police. So it was a bit of a moral outrage because I had sat in court three times now and it was no longer a mistake., This was an intentional policy of the city and my niece just happened to get caught up in it and happened to challenge it. There are only 1,253 people in Brookside, and one store, the Dollar General. "Brookside is a continuation of that story almost 10 years later. I saw the same attitude in every officer and every person, he said. I saw him and we looked eye to eye, the Chelsea business owner said. Sarathy Jones said the issues in Brookside should be a warning for towns and small cities to examine their revenue sources and ensure their local governments aren't turning to law enforcement as moneymaking arms. But an officer grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, breaking it, the lawsuit says. Michelle Jones, of Forestdale, has fought the Brookside police department for three years. The courtroom and the parking lot are packed with people. I should have brought a lawyer, but right now my time is not there, he said. Fourth, Brookside should avoid over-policing and overly broad traffic enforcement which creates the appearance of ticketing for revenue. Ramon Perez showed up for court in December ready to fight traffic citations he got in Brookside. I know that.. The Brookside Police Department is located on Municipal Drive, and the Chief of Police is Jason Springfield. He resigned Jan. 25, six days after AL.com detailed how the department preyed on drivers, and came to use fines and forfeitures to supply half the tiny towns income. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. They were doing the same thing to every person that was there. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. 2023 County Office. APOST oversees police certification in Alabama. Police advocates, including Alabama Rep. Allen Treadaway, a Republican from Morris who was an assistant police chief at Birmingham and a Fraternal Order of Police leader, said a person with such a past should never have been hired as a police officer at all. . (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. Jones built Brooksides police department from a sleepy, one-man agency to an intimidating force of 14 between 2018 and this year. He said hed like to see even more growth in revenue from fines and forfeitures. Judge Wooten said he would not resign, and referred questions to the prosecutor. 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. 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. The transformation of Brookside's police department began in 2018, under the direction of long-serving and now late Mayor Roger McCondichie. Jones, accompanied by his lawyer, Corey Bryan of Andalusia, turned himself in at the Covington County Jail on Monday, Covington County Sheriff Blake Turman said. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. It showed police in 2020 patrolled 114,438 miles in the 6.3-mile town and issued more than 3,000 citations a 692% increase from 2018. A former judge appointed to investigate claims of police abuses in the tiny Alabama town of Brookside, just north of Birmingham, has found a pattern of bullying that preyed on the poor and. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The town could benefit from a formal complaint procedure to provide real time information on alleged racial profiling incidents or incidents of alleged misbehavior of any kind -- at the individual officer level. In the meantime, well continue to make good on our promises to reform policing in Brookside, said Mayor Bryan on Wednesday. Theres no way I was going to run that stop sign.. Brookside Police Department of Brookside, AL spotted in the Jefferson County Sheriff Department District at Roberta Road and Cherry Avenue., And in July, Brookside Police Department of Brookside, AL operating outside its city limits. (Joe Songer for al.com).Joe Songer. Read also: Brookside police patrolled social media, threatening town critics. Total town income more than doubled from 2018 to 2020 from $582,000 to more than $1.2 million as fines and forfeitures rose 640%. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The police wont do anything, Savelle is quoted in the report as saying. Stephanie Franklin, a Jefferson County employee, told AL.com she was a passenger in a car stopped last year for an expired tag. 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. Its findings will be passed along to appropriate state agencies, if necessary. 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. She vividly recalls the events of that night and the following day. "Their whole financial existence starts to spiral, and it was all over a light on their car not working.". She set out to challenge it. The officers, though many, were not well paid. Careful examination of individual officer behavior is also important. In another case, Brookside police last year confiscated a 2014 Honda Civic owned by a man named Sean Wattson, even though Wattson was not driving and was not in the car, according to a lawsuit he filed against the town. The real trouble for Michelle Jones began as she started posting on her Facebook page when she saw Brookside police stopping people in places she thought were out of bounds. The Brookside police staff, based on this data, came to one officer for every 84 residents in January. Detective Johnson had called and asked that I come to the Brookside Police Department to talk to them. Will Ainsworth has requested an audit of Brooksides town and police force, and lawmakers across party lines have called for bills to help curb small-town policing for profit on Alabama Interstates. Its a former mining town, its population about the same as it was a decade ago. In addition, she said, counting on fines and fees collected from people in lower income and marginalized communities only serves to punish them further. Savelle was given pre-trial release, but Shelby County Community Corrections asked a judge a few weeks later to revoke Savelles bond when he willfully failed to comply with the conditions by failing to pay fees for drug screening, failing three alcohol tests and failing to show up for drug tests, court records show. The Town of Brookside participates in the affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, it says. 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. 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. 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. Then this month the Brookside department posted on Facebook that it had hired six more officers in an effort to expand our dedication and commitment to provide superior community service & protection.. It frightened her, and led to more trouble. She fought it instead. After learning of those statements, Rep. Givan again said the three need to resign. She has watched and documented stops there. State agencies have since launched audits and investigations of police there, and officials such as Alabama Lt. Gov. EOG was set up to provide security services for athletic events and other gatherings. There were two cars and one SUV that surrounded my car and police were everywhere, she wrote. County Office is not affiliated with any government agency. I honestly dont think the towns gonna be able to come back from this. 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. She argued that she only drove in the left lane to pass other vehicles, and her ticket on May 26, 2019 came five months before Alabamas Anti-Road Rage Act, a law making it illegal to drive in the left lane of an interstate for more than a mile and a half, went into effect. Unsure what was happening, Harris dialed 911. He returned to his job as second in command with consent of the town council, Hudgens said. 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. ABC 33/40s Cynthia Gould reported at the time. 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. When he declared bankruptcy in 2019, Jones owed $300,000 in tax liens and $2.2 million in total claims. The town of Brookside confirmed that Chief Mike Jones resigned from his position in a brief press release Tuesday afternoon. Savelle on Monday resigned from the Brookside Department, hours after AL.com asked city officials about his past. 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. The complaint seeks return of property and damages. The The Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts released an audit into Brookside in the Spring of 2022. And it broke her heart, it broke my heart.. When the deputy approached the car, he reported that the driver of the vehicle was holding a police badge out of the drivers window, according to the affidavit filed by the county to obtain a warrant for Jones. The interim chief and Town leaders announced reforms within the police department in February 2022. 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, Ala. The police chief of a northern Alabama town resigned Tuesday amid allegations that he set up an aggressive traffic trap that by 2020 accounted for nearly half of the town's . 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. The town also provided a set of police stats Jones presented to the Brookside council to push for more resources and authority. Sheriff Pettway said those who face charges in Brookside and want to ensure justice can get a bond and appeal their case. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The affidavit says Jones told the Covington deputy he was the chief in Brookside, a town a couple hundred miles north, just past Birmingham. Erik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality. In addition, the police charged her with making a false 911 call, obstructing government operations by refusing to give proper papers, and disorderly conduct for yelling for others to come out of their homes. 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. That document budgeted $646,620 to the police this year. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, originally filed on behalf of Cory Thomas, are Thomas; Tinetta Jackson; Keyarah Smith; Ben Blackwell; James Donahue; Gerald Smith; Brittany Todd; and Zachary Harris. But my behavior was right. The man is still afraid of retaliation, and asked for anonymity. In his call to Jones this week, the investigator said he could not tell me anything because of the ongoing investigation, Jones said. It showed police in 2020 patrolled 114,438 miles in the 6.3-mile town and issued more than 3,000 citations - a 692% increase. In 2018, when the town had one full-time police officer and a few part-timers, it reported no serious crimes to the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center. I feel bad for those guys who struggle, Perez said. Officials from the examiners office were believed to visit Brookside last week. The towns administrative expenditures rose 40% and overall spending jumped 112%, from $553,000 in 2018 to $1.2 million in 2020. The report was released on September 29, 2022. 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. And its not an idle threat. The town of Brookside, Alabama holds municipal court once a month. Bill Dawson, a lawyer in Birmingham, said he's had about two dozen people contact him with allegations, but for years, many have been too reluctant to complain. This is at the corner of Roberta Road and Mulberry Road, which is far away from their city limits.. Like those on Dec. 2. However, an initial review of the complaint reveals that any allegations of conspiracy are false and without merit and the Town vehemently denies such allegations.. Even the claims of retaliation for social media posts are not unusual in Brookside. The Town of Brookside forced Plaintiffs and the Plaintiff classes to give up their property and pay illegal fines through fear, intimidation, and under color of official right by imposing fines not authorized by law, seizing property without the legal right to do soand by threat of jail time unless illegal fines were paid or property unlawfully forfeited, the suit says. 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. Over-policing can also create the perception of racial profiling when it appears to target minority citizens. Brookside Police Department Contact Information Address, Phone Number, and Fax Number for Brookside Police Department, a Police Department, at Main Street, Brookside AL. I quit Brookside once he came back, she said. It is unclear whether the resignations were forced, or if the officers chose to leave on their own, or a mixture of both. 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