Town leadership should be proactive in providing oversight, accountability, and checks and balances in the Departments management and ensure that police operations comply with regulatory, judicial, ethical, and financial safeguards. Minnifield says he was a passenger in car stopped for driving with an improper tag, and that he was detained, among other things. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. John Walker was stopped in Brookside for following too closely. Mr. Bryan, as un-involved as he sounds, is as culpable as the others.. Find agency contact, demographics, type, population served and more. He waved it around the restaurant, in front of customers and staff. As we have seen, overly aggressive traffic enforcement is not the way forward. From 2018 to 2020, spending on police rose from $79,000 to $524,000, a 560% increase. Terms and Conditions. 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. Third, police leadership and individual officers would likely benefit from training focused not only on racial profiling, but also on overall traffic enforcement strategy. 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. They've also been accused of using racist language in a community that is majority white, but also has a Black population of nearly 25 percent and a small but growing Latino population. Thats why I hesitated to fight it. View map of Brookside Police Department, and get driving directions from your location. 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. Ive never seen a possession case split like that, he said. (Joe Songer for al.com).Joe Songer. Perez is Hispanic, and his passenger was a Brookside resident, also Hispanic, who didnt have her purse with her, Perez said. The complaint seeks return of property and damages. 2023 County Office. Read also: Brookside police patrolled social media, threatening town critics. The deputy gave him a professional courtesy verbal warning and sent him on his way. Like those on Dec. 2. Over the last several months, the Brookside Police Department has faced scrutiny over its ticketing practices, as well as alleged corruption. 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. AL.com also sought connection through Brookside officials. She spelled it out in her complaint to the AGs office and in notes to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department, county commissioners and others. Disparities in the rate at which drivers were stopped do not appear to be significantly different from the rate in which drivers racial and ethnic groups populate 4 Jefferson County. However, our analysis did find significant evidence of selective enforcement with respect to warning tickets. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is the police department that serves the area, where Mike Hale is the sheriff. Michelle Jones, of Forestdale, has fought the Brookside police department for three years. I should have brought a lawyer, but right now my time is not there, he said. Yet Savelle was right-hand man to then-Brookside Chief Mike Jones, and since Jones was out of town during the arrest, Savelle served as acting chief when Hoover police approached him at Dave & Busters. Brookside now faces at least five lawsuits. I was just looking at him like, so this is what this stop is about?. And while sitting in court I heard that half the court was also stopped for the same thing.. [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. 2711 Municipal Dr. Brookside, AL 35036. Unsure what was happening, Harris dialed 911. Bill Dawson, a lawyer who has represented several clients in Brookside, said defendants have faced possession charges for a joint, with paraphernalia charges tacked on for the paper it was rolled in. Jones blamed the lawsuits on ambulance-chasing attorneys.. 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. The officer said he would take them both to jail because she didnt have her ID. All rights reserved (About Us). He resigned as chief of the Brookside department last week, days after AL.coms original report on Brookside. Hoover police arrested Savelle for public intoxication and two counts of harassment that night, saying he was intoxicated to the point of being a danger to himself and to others. The woman told police she did wish to press charges. Monday afternoon former Birmingham Police Officer Montague Minnifield became at least the eighth person to sue Brookside over its police and court systems. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Thats 49% of the small towns skyrocketing revenue. There are only 1,253 people in Brookside, and one store, the Dollar General. I quit Brookside once he came back, she said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Scott Shackford | 1.19.2022 1:20 PM. 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. Jetts Towing owner Wayne Jett could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Source: Yahoo Images. Police put her in a patrol car and searched her vehicle for drugs. Dozens of people who claim they were victimized by Brookside Police have come forward to tell their stories. Not for speeding, or running a stop sign, or any violation. Fewer than 100 of its residents graduated college. 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. Smart, targeted strategies administered in an even-handed fashion will maximize results and public support for Brookside. And it broke her heart, it broke my heart.. In a two-year period between 2018 and 2020 Brookside revenues from fines and forfeitures soared more than 640 percent and now make up half the citys total income. Jones and Bryan said neither the town nor the police department relies on the revenue officers bring in. Even the claims of retaliation for social media posts are not unusual in Brookside. In May of 2019, the month Brumlow was stopped, Brookside officers ticketed 75 people for driving in the left lane. Periodic review of bodycam video can be used to monitor and investigate possible profiling or other alleged misconduct. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal 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. The Alabama Legislature this session passed a bill in response to Brookside that would cap at 10 percent the amount of revenue from fines and fees that a municipality can take in. Ive been irritated in these comments that come from Mike Bryan, McDonald said. Brookside Police Department. But my behavior was right. All rights reserved. Former Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, in a photo taken by WAAO News' Blaine Wilson, after turning himself in. They let her out of jail at midnight, long after her family had made bond. Brookside officials this afternoon said in a statement that the Tahoe is registered in Jones name and does not belong to Brookside. He feels the police saw him as prey, and treated him as such. August 18, 2015 Aerial Videography of Brookside, Alabama Trails Five Mile Creek on the Alabama Birding Trail September 24, 2014 Brookside walkng trail has been added to the Appalchian Highlands Birding Trail web site! I have never been in any trouble only had one speeding ticket. 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. Its my understanding that a guy can go out there and I mean, he can fall into a black hole, Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr said of drivers getting entangled financially. The police wont do anything, Savelle is quoted in the report as saying. 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. Officers, dressed completely in dark, unmarked uniforms approached her, and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence, her suit alleges. 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. 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. . Mayor Mike Bryan late Wednesday said there was no conspiracy, The Town has just been made aware of this amended lawsuit, Bryan told AL.com. Name Brookside Police Department Suggest Edit Address 208 Main Street Brookside , Alabama , 35036 Phone 205-674-9275 Fax 205-674-9547 Brookside Police Department Details Type He was released after posting $20,000 bail. Former Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones was arrested May 2, 2022 in Covington County, Ala., charged with impersonating a police officer. Second, the town would likely benefit from a relationship with a research organization to provide annual information on the existence of any red flags detected in statistical trends and patterns. (Photographerlondon / Dreamstime.com) Brookside, Alabama, has a population of less than 1,500 people. CountyOffice.org does not provide consumer reports and is not a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This analysis suggests that whites receive substantially more favorable treatment with respect to warnings than other groups.. Greenway Park incorporates a truly remarkable mix of habitats in close proximity. Brookside officers have been accused in lawsuits of fabricating charges, using racist language and making up laws to stack counts on passersby. And local court officials have thrown out or called into question more than 100 cases involving Brookside police. 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. Arrests on Brookside warrants went from zero to 243 in the span of two years, according to statistics Chief Jones presented to the council. This is extortion., The 46-page complaint claims each of the named police officers, under former police chief Mike Jones, knew that they were violating the constitutional, statutory, and common law rights of the Classes pled herein, and did so to create more revenue for the Town of Brookside so that they, in turn, could enjoy the fruits of that revenue in the form of pay, benefits, equipment, and receipt of the profits from policing as described herein.. It showed that total arrests custodial, misdemeanor and felony rose 1,109% from 2018 to 2020. 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. 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. There were two cars and one SUV that surrounded my car and police were everywhere, she wrote. Brooksides police chief resigned in January 2022 following accusations of aggressive policing. 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. Fines and forfeitures seizures of cars during traffic stops, among other things doubled from 2018 to 2019. 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. Jones could not be reached for comment on this report. The deputy described a Brookside badge with a chief indicator at the bottom. She insists like many others stopped by Brookside police that she did not run the stop sign at all. Detective Johnson had called and asked that I come to the Brookside Police Department to talk to them. He reported that his Police Chief was mad.. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Turman said it critical to hold officers to a high standard. 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. His phone is not accepting calls and he did not return emails to an address listed as belonging to him. 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 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. This story was published with the support of a grant from Columbia Universitys Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. Givan and Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway want to hear more, and will hold a town hall meeting today. "Brookside is a continuation of that story almost 10 years later. People who had their vehicles towed and impounded by Jetts Towing after a traffic stop. 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