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. Tuesday February 1, 2022. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Ive seen it, DA Carr said. Visibility was low and she was driving cautiously, she said. If you had more officers and more productivity youd have more, Jones said. A dark, seemingly unmarked SUV pulled behind her, she said. 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. It comes in the wake of the policing controversy in Brookside. He agreed to represent his niece in her traffic case. II. Brookside has two drug-sniffing dogs one named K9 Cash to search the cars of stopped motorists. 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. The towns administrative expenditures rose 40% and overall spending jumped 112%, from $553,000 in 2018 to $1.2 million in 2020. At a Feb. 1 town hall meeting near Brookside, residents and drivers told vivid stories of police abuses and more meanness and called for investigations, restitution and even dissolution of the police force and the town itself. 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. In less than three months Brookside separately pulled over both her and her housemate and impounded both their vehicles. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Most of the vehicles Brookside Police drive are unmarked, and tinted. He decided to plead guilty and pay the fines after seeing how others were treated. But Jones wanted his force to show force. One man said residents don't want just resignations, they want people going to jail. Ultimately another officer took Perez to his friends house to retrieve her ID, he said. The caller identified himself as a Det. It did not feature a breakout of the police department. People abused by small town's "policing for profit" file class action seeking accountability. Brittany Coleman is fighting Brookside, Alabama over its abusive fines. Address, Phone Number, and Fax Number for Brookside Police Department, a Police Department, at Main Street, Brookside AL. Officers appeared to approach drivers with the presumption that they were guilty of something, many drivers would later say. The courtroom and the parking lot are packed with people. In court she pleaded down to driving without a state license less serious than driving while suspended and ultimately got her license back. 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. Arrest Files Date Published: 03/04/2023. They own the town.. At left, clockwise from top: Brookside Mayor Mike Bryan, town judge Jim Wooten, former Lt. James "Bo" Savelle, former Chief Mike Jones, and town attorney Mark Parnell. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. 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. All rights reserved (About Us). Jones blamed the lawsuits on ambulance-chasing attorneys.. That story unleashed a torrent of testimonials from people who said they were victimized by Brookside police, and prompted state lawmakers from both parties to call for investigations and reforms. The town's median household income is less than $40,000, according to demographic data. Over 200 people packed into the new Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Training Facility building to voice their complaints about aggressive policing by the Brookside Police Dept. 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 those . Mayor Bryan announced he had pulled police officers from Interstate 22 as the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission and the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts swooped in for audits. Silverware, plates and everything like that.. Since 2011, Brookside reported to the state very little serious crime one robbery and no murders. I said, Where are yall taking my car? she said. Raeland Jahmille Johnson was Arrested/Booked on Wednesday March 1st 2023. We were required to be jailers as well, but had no formal training.. 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 of . Tornado activity: Brookside-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Alabama state average.It is 161% greater than the overall U.S. average.. On 4/8/1998, a category F5 (max. I could take over the whole county with numbers like that, he joked. People are angry and more than frustrated with the Brookside police department. The town began to tow huge numbers of cars, and reap huge rewards. The primary coordinates for Brookside Police Department places it within the AL 35214 ZIP Code delivery area.. Maps, Driving Directions & Local Area Information And its not an idle threat. Police gave him a ticket for running a stop sign, which he disputed. 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. And while sitting in court I heard that half the court was also stopped for the same thing.. It may cost some money to go through that process, he said. It was something that I should not have been stopped for, Brumlow said in sworn testimony. The Planning Jurisdictions and City/Town Limits in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. The ABC3340 News I-Team first exposed . Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. Allan Armstrong, one of a group of lawyers who filed the complaint, said Brookside violated basic American rights. Asked in December how many officers were on staff, he refused to say, citing security concerns, though police staff sizes are reported regularly to the government for public consumption. The complaint seeks return of property and damages. Months of research and dozens of interviews by AL.com found that Brooksides finances are rocket-fueled by tickets and aggressive policing. Most of the time people get stopped, theyre going to get a ticket. In 2018 total revenue for the town of Brookside was $586,000. 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 . A judge set Halls fines at $6,000, and he had to post $12,000 bond while he appealed the case, an amount Weinberg considered excessive, and one that would prevent defendants without money or support from arguing their cases in state court. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. That's a 1,478% increase, with 1.7 tows for every household in town. Will Ainsworth, a Republican who vowed to do something about Brookside-style behavior. For context, Birmingham city would have to more than triple the size of its force to equal a ratio of that in Brookside. Asked why that was the case, Bryan responded there had been an error, that the heading for the Municipal Court Fund was actually the police department budget. He posted his displeasure on Facebook, he said, and then a police officer stopped him, blue lights flashing. McDonald began to struggle with the ethics of it. Jones had been a cop in nearby Shelby County, in the affluent suburbs south of Birmingham. Theres no way I was going to run that stop sign.. Law-abiding citizens should not fall prey to a renegade police department that is accountable to no one.. Published: Feb. 8, 2022 at 3:58 PM PST. He absolutely would embarrass you. "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. 1331, Federal Question jurisdiction, because the case is a civil rights lawsuit brought 2022-08-08; 2022-09-26; 2022-12-12.2. CountyOffice.org does not provide consumer reports and is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). 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). Savelle became a lieutenant in Brookside. She set out to challenge it. 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. If you put anything on Facebook, he retaliated verbally to you, said Brookside resident Tammy Price. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. She said she was asked to pat down female inmates, and was once made to perform a cavity search on a woman suspected of having drugs. The Town of Brookside released this statement: To investigate and address the issues raised by the recent news accounts of our Police Department, on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, the Town of Brookside requested the Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission (APOSTC) perform a compliance audit of the Brookside Police Department . And while many Brookside residents work across the Birmingham area the largest urban center in Alabama they enjoy the country feel of their town, the anonymity and security that used to come with it. He saw so many people trying to park in the grassy field outside the municipal building that police had to direct traffic. Transfer Portal. Savelle had a history of trouble. 13333-A Hwy. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. She was taken to jail and told she couldnt leave without a $500 cash bond and $206 she still owed on the original offense. The town collected surplus valued at $760,846, more than accepted by Birmingham or Montgomery, and among the highest totals in Alabama. Seven Brookside police officers have resigned since details of the town's aggressive policing strategy gained national attention in January. I feel bad for those guys who struggle, Perez said. Suggest Listing Arrest Files Date Published: 03/03/2023. Brookside, population 1,253, had never even had an annual budget. Fewer than 100 of its residents graduated college. Stories of how Alabama legal systems criminalize poverty. 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. But for this: The officer said the chiefs pretty upset about that post you put on Facebook. the Brookside man told AL.com. Jefferson County Public Defender Adam Danneman said he began to notice Brookside a year or so ago. That audit report, released last week, has said such an arrangement is illegal. Locality Locality Code Boundaries Map Notice & Ordinance Item 30 Day Notice Posted ALDOR Posted Abbeville 9356 Adamsville 9130 Addison 9309 Akron 9668 Alabaster 9413 Albertville 9397 Alexander City 9358 Ord. It was more than the car was worth in fines, she said. Her boss paid her fine. He lent his car to a friend, who was pulled over and arrested for drug possession. 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. The town announced that all police cars and uniforms would be clearly marked. 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. He said hed like to see even more growth in revenue from fines and forfeitures. She remembered being pulled over five years before. By Charlotte Trattner On 1/26/22 at 1:38 PM EST. Another town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 6 pm at Birminghams Carver High School. And it broke her heart, it broke my heart.. 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. By Josh Gauntt. Shes in my sight.. Officers began to pick up the bags and bring them into the little town hall, said Kimberlee Hudgens, a Brookside dispatcher at the time. They were there for a good while, Hudgens said. In a sworn deposition in the civil suit Jeff Brumlow said he went to court three times before the case was ultimately dropped, and saw many people hed guess 25 to 30% of all defendants charged with the dubious left lane violation. Drivers, both in responding to the stories and in a town hall held last week to address police and court concerns, have complained of bullying, intimidation, detention, retribution, threats, racial profiling, and charges made up of whole cloth to stack fines on drivers, among other things. It puts all cities, towns, and crossroads on full notice that such behavior is unacceptable. It was enforced by those he picked despite their backgrounds to be police officers. She had an asthma attack and a panic attack, but when she knocked on the door to alert a guard, a jailer said if she continued to knock she would be charged with attempting to escape. Netta Womack tells her story about Brookside police at a town hall Tuesday February 1, 2022. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on an official government site. There were two cars and one SUV that surrounded my car and police were everywhere, she wrote. People who were detained by Brookside officers beyond a traffic stop. I always pray, and this day has come at the right time, Netta Womack said at the town hall. He was also ticketed for improper signal, though he cant even fathom how that might have occurred. On top of the third party audit, the town has retained a former Jefferson County judge to . 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. They seek damages against the individual police officers for wrongful fines, forfeitures, and arrests, including mental anguish damages., In trying to establish a conspiracy, the complaint contends that the town of Brookside, its court and its officers, exist to extract the payment of unlawful fines from the people.. Stephanie Franklin, a Jefferson County employee, told AL.com she was a passenger in a car stopped last year for an expired tag. 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. 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. Defendants must pay thousands in fines and fees or pay for costly appeals to state court and poorer residents or passersby fall into patterns of debt they cannot easily escape. Arrest powers are not confined to city limits or jurisdictional boundaries except within the State of Alabama.. "Even if you legitimately stop someone because they need a light on their car fixed, if you give them a ticket, how does that meet the goal that a person's car be made safer?" Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. She pulled to the side of the road as the SUV pulled behind her, and a wrecker simultaneously parked nearby. Katie Baggett moved to Brookside in December 2020. 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. Lawyer Martin Weinberg had a client in Brookside, a young man named Thomas Hall, who was stopped for speeding and found with a small amount of marijuana. 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. We were not trained whatsoever, she said. What I had watched in court with the use of this particular charge, I mean, just to be quite frank, it offended me that a court would act that way and that a city would act that way toward people who really dont have that kind of money, he testified. Garbage bags filled with used adult diapers, soiled puppy pads and empty oatmeal packets had been regularly dumped along the main road through the tiny town just north of Birmingham. Lic. She fought it instead. Pettway also said issues with Brookside could draw the attention of the federal government. Officers said they stopped her because the tag light on her Honda Odyssey was not visible from 50 feet away. 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. She paid the $160 ticket and began to make her case through emails to public officials, complaints, a television interview and elsewhere. wind speeds 261-318 mph) tornado 4.4 miles away from the Brookside town center killed 32 people and injured 259 people and caused $200 million in damages.. On 4/4/1977, a category F5 tornado 7.8 miles away from . Wattson claims he was unaware of the drugs. Wed have to replace air fresheners, like every other day., Thats where we kept all the supplies for feeding the inmates, she said. Jetts Towing owner Wayne Jett could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. 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.. I wouldnt be surprised if they opened up an investigation. A Peace Officer sworn in the State of Alabama can enforce the law anywhere in the State of Alabama, he wrote in an email. Free Honea Path Property Records Search. To report a criminal tax violation,please call (251) 344-4737, To report non-filers, please emailtaxpolicy@revenue.alabama.gov. 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. They told me they dont give blankets, she 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. An official website of the Alabama State government. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. The office of state Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, declined to comment Friday about the traffic stops in Brookside. Just 50 cars were towed in 2018, but that jumped to 789 cars two years later, or an average of more than two a day. Hall did appeal, and a Jefferson County judge ultimately dismissed the charges. She was not speeding, or breaking the law, she argued in the suit. The abuses that have come to light in Brookside were simmering for years and no one in power was paying attention, she said. As she stepped out of Jernigan Healthcare the two snapped handcuffs on Hodges wrists and led her to the police car. At a March 7 town council meeting Mayor Bryan stood in the spot where Wooten sat on court days, in the reflection of the Ten Commandments. We respect the process and its outcomes., Montague Minnifield talks passionately about his experience with Brookside Police. As Brookside Mayor Bryan told AL.com when first asked about aggressive policing in December: Everybodys got a story, and 99% of them are lying.. Katie Baggett moved to Brookside in December of 2020. Lord, after all this time you heard me. Thats my (late) husbands boat, she said. But if you want real justice, I think youll go through the process. Scott Shackford | 1.19.2022 1:20 PM. 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. The Town of Brookside, Alabama, is a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the State of Alabama ("the State"), and subject to suit. 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. We dont like writing tickets.. Police put her in a patrol car and searched her vehicle for drugs. In February, Brookside even suspended court. He was charged with 31 counts of criminal littering, and town Judge Wooten had fined him $14,268. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. 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. 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. He rolled down his window and said, Im glad you havent needed me lately.. "Brookside will continue to cooperate with all appropriate authorities to ensure that a full investigation of these issues are completed," he said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. And the police chief has called for more. He pushed the boundaries of the towns police jurisdiction beyond the town limits, and blanketed nearby Interstate 22 with police cars. I see a 600% increase thats a failure. Vincent Witt, who sued Brookside after his treatment there. The town also expanded its towing operations, going from 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020. 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 . All rights reserved (About Us). They were doing the same thing to every person that was there. Though Alabama has dozens of towns that treat drivers like ATMs, the new laws were mainly prompted by a multi-part investigation by AL.com into Brookside, a town with fewer than 1,300 residents . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. She has watched and documented stops there. 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. Fallout over the Brookside revelations continues. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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. Ramon Perez came to court last month ready to fight the tickets hed been handed by Brookside police, including one for rolling through a stop sign and another for driving 48 mph in a 40 zone. I was just looking at him like, so this is what this stop is about?. 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. Its a former mining town, its population about the same as it was a decade ago. By last summer, he said in a deposition, Brookside had hired eight additional full-time officers and several part-timers. Another would bar police from using unmarked cars for traffic stops. Ive always been suspicious of small town courts, and Ive seen a lot of abuses from them, he said. Brookside, which in 2018 had one full time police officer, now parks a riot control vehicle townspeople call it a tank outside the municipal complex and community center. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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 . Officers crammed evidence like those trash bags wherever space could be found, according to a state audit released this month. Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway said the same. But my behavior was right. Find Arrest Records, Police Records, and Warrants related to Brookside Police Department. Michelle Jones said she has had friends, acquaintances and family members stopped in Brookside. This Court has jurisdiction over this case under 28 U.S.C. The law, according to Hudgens, was what Mike Jones said it was. Everybodys got a story, he said. Jones reimagined the police department as a sort of drug task force on the corridor between Birmingham and Memphis and he was creative. Brumlow pleaded not guilty, and had to go to court over and over again as the case was postponed. By the time she found it the storage fees topped $2,000. Privacy Policy A California man is facing multiple felony charges in Alabama after allegedly kidnapping a woman at knifepoint and holding her hostage in Brookside on Sunday.The Brookside Police Department said officers responded to a report of a woman being kidnapped by a man in driving a white van around 2:45 p.m. on Brookside Coalburg Road. And theyre saying they were nowhere near Brookside.. I saw the same attitude in every officer and every person, he said. These figures were provided by the city: Brookside Police.