But an officer grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, breaking it, the lawsuit says. The report was released on September 29, 2022. The town of Brookside, Alabama holds municipal court once a month. Its very uncertain as a citizen of Brookside now.. A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. On the other end was a caller IDd as coming from the Brookside Town Hall, she said. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. More than half the Brookside officers resigned or were fired this year as more and more people came forward to tell their stories about mistreatment in Brookside. . YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. AL.com in January reported how Brookside used fines and forfeitures to bring in almost half the town revenue in 2020, and how its police department grew exponentially under Chief Jones. Officials from the examiners office were believed to visit Brookside last week. Brookside, Alabama - a poor town, 70% white, 21% black with a small but growing Hispanic population and a median income "well below the state average" has made national news because of the Brookside Police Department (BPD). Brookside officials this afternoon said in a statement that the Tahoe is registered in Jones name and does not belong to Brookside. 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. 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. He said response times were long because Brookside often had to rely on the Jefferson County Sheriffs department for service. CNN's Nick Valencia. The town of Brookside confirmed that Chief Mike Jones resigned from his position in a brief press release Tuesday afternoon. State Representative Juandalynn Givan isnt surprised by the report. I have never been in any trouble only had one speeding ticket. 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. No one can objectively look at this and conclude this is good government that is keeping us safer.. In Brookside, complaints about retaliation have come time and time again, as in the case of Rev. Lt. Gov. 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. The Brookside police staff, based on this data, came to one officer for every 84 residents in January. He built the department from a one-man operation to a ticket-hungry department with 10 blacked-out vehicles, two drug-sniffing dogs and a riot control vehicle. All rights reserved (About Us). As Brookside's earnings draw further scrutiny, with Givan planning a town hall Tuesday to allow people who say they've been exploited by the police force to come forward, advocacy organizations are emphasizing that it is no outlier and highlights how across the country, traffic fines and related fees are being used to fill municipal coffers at the expense of people who are often financially struggling and from communities of color. Not all of them can afford to pay their fines as he did, and some have been put on payment plans. 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 quit Brookside once he came back, she said. 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. Tiny Brooksides style of policing under Jones has become known nationally in recent weeks. The town also expanded its towing operations, going from 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020. That meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office Training Center in Fultondale, 3500 Happy Hollow Lane. Michelle Jones said she has had friends, acquaintances and family members stopped in Brookside. I honestly dont think the towns gonna be able to come back from this. Which is another problem altogether, Sheriff Pettway said. The resignation follows an investigative report by al.com. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. Chief Jones testified under oath that just one of the 10 Brookside vehicles is painted with police striping, but nine others bear no emblems, and seven are tinted all the way around, making it impossible to see inside. Brookside is the "the wild, Wild West," one state lawmaker said after its income from traffic fines and forfeitures reportedly rose 640 percent in 2 years. Police Trap, she posted in June of 2019. The officers, though many, were not well paid. One, by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur would force cities to make the amount of fines and fees they collect public. 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. 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. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The suit also names 23 current and former officers as individual defendants. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Another town hall is scheduled for Thursday at 6 pm at Birminghams Carver High School. Read more stories from our Banking on Crime series: Updated 10/10/22 to say the woman accosted at Dave & Busters did wish to press charges. Alabama Senate candidate Lisa Ward said ex-Chief Jones tried to intimidate her in a social media message after she shared the AL.com story on Facebook. Former Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, in a photo taken by WAAO News' Blaine Wilson, after turning himself in. People who were stopped by Brookside police and fined more than the state allows. 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. He decided to plead guilty and pay the fines after seeing how others were treated. 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. BROOKSIDE, Ala. (WBRC) - We're learning more about complaints against the Brookside Police Department, this time from other members of law enforcement. The conclusion reads: We conclude our report by recommending that new Brookside Police Department leadership adopt specific policies aimed at targeting its law enforcement efforts in more strategic ways. 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. Thats a 1,478% increase, with 1.7 tows for every household in town. Everybodys got a story, he said. You cant do whats going on over there.. That contributed a 14% chunk of the citys total income, a number that would be considered high in much of America. There are only 1,253 people in Brookside, and one store, the Dollar General. Bryan served as president pro tem of the council for years, and performed the duties of mayor during the long illness of his predecessor. 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. AL.com published a story outlining Brookside policing, , former Lt. James Bo Savelle III, resigned Jan. 31. says he was a passenger in car stopped for driving with an improper tag, and that he was detained, among other things. He swore hed seen the cop from a distance and was careful as he braked. 43 Brookside should consider such a policy. 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.. (Joe Songer for AL.com).Joe Songer. IE 11 is not supported. 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. Its findings will be passed along to appropriate state agencies, if necessary. Mr. Bryan, as un-involved as he sounds, is as culpable as the others.. He served a months suspension, with pay in the wake of news coverage about the arrest. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. The resignations include former chief Mike Jones, who built the tiny towns department from a one-man agency in 2018 to one that, according to data the town provided to AL.com in response to a public records request, included 13 full time officers and two reserves. And it broke her heart, it broke my heart.. The special report concludes with six recommendations for Brookside leaders and the Brookside Police Department. Police charged Harris with flickering her lights or nuisance of casting lights from motor vehicle on real property at night, which she argues did not happen and eventually was dropped. Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones, who spearheaded the change and grew the police department tenfold, at least, calls the towns policing a positive story. Mayor Mike Bryan a former councilman who assumed his position last year after the death of the previous mayor sits and nods in agreement. Two or three days later Brookside police stopped him again. Police stops soared between 2018 and 2020. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Seven Brookside police officers have resigned since January Published: Feb. 09, 2022, 10:00 a.m. Netta Womack tells her story about Brookside police at a town hall Tuesday February 1, 2022.. After I told him that I would not, he reported that they have two warrants for my arrest. The towns own investigator said police under Jones sought out those who they believed could not put up a fight poor people in particular, and those who had previous run-ins with the law. The interim chief and Town leaders announced reforms within the police department in February 2022. she added. 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. Fourth, Brookside should avoid over-policing and overly broad traffic enforcement which creates the appearance of ticketing for revenue. Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones resigns Jan. 25, 2022. 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. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. People who were detained by Brookside officers beyond a traffic stop. Roger McCondichie, the late mayor of Brookside, at the time called Jones company woes personal business and defended the hiring by saying Jones was certified and had all the credentials. You may not use this site for the purposes of furnishing consumer reports about search subjects or for any use prohibited by the FCRA. We dont care about tickets, Jones said. The deputy described a Brookside badge with a chief indicator at the bottom. Written with the support of Columbia Universitys Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. We will be reviewing the details of the allegations with the Towns legal counsel. We dont have a law that says if you dont have ID, you go to jail, he said. The deputy gave him a professional courtesy verbal warning and sent him on his way. But its a common charge in Brookside. I dont condone it, but you know, Im not the chief out there.. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. But lawyers and law enforcement officers across central Alabama have raised questions about things in Brookside they say they have never otherwise come across. Savelle was 32 at the time of his Hoover arrest, and was shown to have previous arrests for public intoxication, DUI, public lewdness, as well as multiple drug charges, the Hoover report said. Vincent Witt and his sister, Tareya, who said the small police department fabricated charges against them and listed them as fugitives because Witt complained about an officers racist remark. This is shocking, said Crowder. Michelle Jones made an official complaint to the Alabama Attorneys Generals office three years ago, arguing that Brookside police stopped her out of jurisdiction, issued a bogus citation and threatened her with more charges after she criticized them on Facebook. Erik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality. The town also provided a set of police stats Jones presented to the Brookside council to push for more resources and authority. Most of the vehicles Brookside Police drive are unmarked, and tinted. 2023 County Office. Then-Council member Bryan was there each time the police department reported their revenues to them during council meetings. Others werent so fortunate. Ive been irritated in these comments that come from Mike Bryan, McDonald said. At least eight officers, including Jones, have resigned or been let go since. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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.. I was the one that informed him that Mike Jones was in Washington D.C. and that Bo was the acting chief.. 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. Police must direct traffic before the 1 p.m. court session starts. 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