Not for speeding, or running a stop sign, or any violation. The officer said We have had people stop and record us, she said, like it explained his actions.. she said. In the second town hall meeting hosted by Rep. Juandalynn Givan and Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway, attendees addressed more concerns with the city's police. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. Theres no way I was going to run that stop sign.. There is no trust," Representative Juandalynn Givan said. Vincent Witt and his sister, Tareya, Chief Jones tried to intimidate her in a social media message, 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. Ive seen it, DA Carr said. Her lawyers argue that the city uses obscure possible violations to justify stopping and searching passersby, hoping to add more offenses in a sort of highway lottery to fill the coffers. The caller identified himself as a Det. I have never been in any trouble only had one speeding ticket. A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to let a class-action lawsuit go forward against an Alabama town accused of policing for profit with excessive fines and aggressive enforcement of local laws. He resigned as chief of the Brookside department last week, days after AL.coms original report on Brookside. Dedicated to documenting the apparent corruption of the Town and Police of Brookside, Alabama. (Joe Songer for al.com).Joe Songer. We had no knowledge of Mike Jones whereabouts after his resignation January 25, Mayor Mike Bryan said. Fifth, the town needs help in fighting drug trafficking. We dont like writing tickets.. Perez is Hispanic, and his passenger was a Brookside resident, also Hispanic, who didnt have her purse with her, Perez said. Pettway also said issues with Brookside could draw the attention of the federal government. In the meantime, well continue to make good on our promises to reform policing in Brookside, said Mayor Bryan on Wednesday. Jones was stopped on April 12 by a Covington County deputy after being clocked driving 78 mph in a 55 zone on Alabama 55 south. 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. I was working that night and I received a phone call from the Hoover police chief, she said. Brookside has two drug-sniffing dogs one named K9 Cash to search the cars of stopped motorists. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. held the first town hall, in which 200 people gathered, 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. As we have seen, overly aggressive traffic enforcement is not the way forward. CountyOffice.org does not provide consumer reports and is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This is the statement from the Town of Brookside: Mike Jones resigned as the Police Chief for the Town of Brookside. Givan is holding a letter asking for the resignation of Mayor Mike Bryan. That contributed a 14% chunk of the citys total income, a number that would be considered high in much of America. He served a months suspension, with pay in the wake of news coverage about the arrest. Privacy Policy 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. Another town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 6 pm at Birminghams Carver High School. This is shocking, said Crowder. But not in the courtroom. 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. (WBRC) -The town of Brookside is facing another lawsuit. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Michelle Jones said she has had friends, acquaintances and family members stopped in Brookside. Since this involves a personnel matter, the Town has no further comment. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Fairness and real justice, I believe, is something people are looking for when it comes to law enforcement. 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. Arrests on Brookside warrants went from zero to 243 in the span of two years, according to statistics Chief Jones presented to the council. Brookside Police Department Contact Information Address, Phone Number, and Fax Number for Brookside Police Department, a Police Department, at Main Street, Brookside AL. Which is exactly what the town is banking on, according to those who have watched Brookside grow into one of Alabamas biggest, most troublesome traffic traps. Type: Traffic tickets, and criminalizing those who passed through, became the citys leading industry. In 2018, reporters for ABC 33/40 said they asked the former mayor of Brookside about Jones financial problems when he was hired. Former Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, in a photo taken by WAAO News' Blaine Wilson, after turning himself in. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the police department that serves the area, where Mike Hale is the sheriff. 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. This analysis suggests that whites receive substantially more favorable treatment with respect to warnings than other groups.. You know, weve had a lot of issues with Brookside.. Then-Council member Bryan was there each time the police department reported their revenues to them during council meetings. Will Ainsworth want to know how such a department could have existed. But Brookside revenues from fines and forfeitures soared after that, and the towns law-enforcement goals and its reputation changed. 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. He stated that I issued threats, incited a riot, and slandered the Brookside Police Department in my Facebook posts. The man is still afraid of retaliation, and asked for anonymity. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT) As the Brookside Police Department debacle continues, the call for Mayor Mike Bryan and other leaders to resign still rings among those who have been victims by the city's officers. She has watched and documented stops there. Givan said this time she especially wants to hear from women. Police stops soared between 2018 and 2020. Over the last several months, the Brookside Police Department has faced scrutiny over its ticketing practices, as well as alleged corruption. Outside the jail this morning, the lawyer told Blaine Wilson of WAAO News in Andalusia that Jones is innocent and he will prove it in court. 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. She vividly recalls the events of that night and the following day. The police in the city of Brookside basically created their own policing system and for years have been able to get away with it and as the report says they endangered the lives of citizens and they should be held accountable for it, Givan said. The curious case of the financial income of the town, on the outskirts of Birmingham, exploded into a scandal following a local news report on AL.com last week. 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. We respect the process and its outcomes., Montague Minnifield talks passionately about his experience with Brookside Police. It was something that I should not have been stopped for, Brumlow said in sworn testimony. Attempts to reach Savelle for comment were unsuccessful. Brookside Police Department is in the Police1 Law Enforcement Directory. Jones could not be reached for comment on this report. Brandon McDonald, another former dispatcher the first hired by Brookside after Chief Jones took over in 2018 and created the position said Jones had a long association with Savelle. If you want to go out there and do something like that, you are creating a law., Perez said the officer went absolutely crazy over her lack of ID. Brookside until recently was known for its quirky Russian food festival and the states only onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church. She set out to challenge it. Ramon Perez showed up for court in December ready to fight traffic citations he got in Brookside. All rights reserved (About Us). 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. Yet the town with no traffic lights collected $487 in fines and forfeitures in 2020 for every man, woman and child, though many of those fined were merely passing by on I-22. And a Brookside man told AL.com police in the town pulled him over with blue lights and told him there would be consequences if he posted more about the police on Facebook. An investigator with the AG responded to her, and she spelled it out again in 2020. Jones again as Mayor Bryan nodded said the goal of the department is only to help people. No one can objectively look at this and conclude this is good government that is keeping us safer.. On the other end was a caller IDd as coming from the Brookside Town Hall, she said. 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