Have you ever gone on a road trip and been caught in a speed trap in some little town in the middle of nowhere? That’s what happened to many motorists who drove through Brookside, Alabama in the last few years. The state’s Appleseed Center of Law and Justice has dubbed this town of 1,200 the poster child of policing for profit because its police department generated a 640 percent increase in fines/forfeitures in just two years. As Reuters explained, Brookside has become “symbolic of a nationwide problem: predatory law enforcement.”
Policing for Profit
In 2020, $487 in fines and forfeitures were collected for every town resident. Most drivers fined were passing through a 1.5 mile portion of Interstate 22. Brookside officers, dressed in nondescript uniforms and using unmarked vehicles with heavily tinted windows, did not just hand out speeding tickets like candy; they also cited people without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing and sometimes with non-existent laws.
Often, Brookside police officers strayed out of their jurisdiction to hand out tickets. Police in neighboring towns and the Jefferson County sheriff’s office received numerous complaints about the predatory nature of the Brookside department. The Jefferson County District Attorney claimed they were running a money-making racket, violating people’s constitutional rights rather than protecting public safety.
By the end of 2021, it was believed that Brookside had nine officers (the town did not want to confirm) or one for every 144 residents. According to Governing Magazine, the average force size for smaller towns is one officer for every 588 residents. From 2011 to 2018, only 55 major crimes were reported in Brookside, and none involving murder or rape. So, why so many officers?
All about the Money
Brookside, 20 minutes north of Birmingham, is a former mining town with a median income of $40,000 per year. The population is 70 percent white, 21 percent Black and a small but growing Hispanic population. The town’s only store is a Dollar General. There are no stop lights and few two-lane streets, but Interstate 22 runs near the town and became one of the biggest ticket generators. The Brookside Police Department made the criminalization of residents and those passing through the town’s leading industry.
In 2018, traffic fines collected totaled $82,467, about 14 percent of the town’s total income, already a relatively high proportion. By 2020, that figure grew to $610,000, about half the town’s income. Brookside doubled its revenue and began spending more money funding the police department than it did for all other municipal operations combined.
The monthly traffic court sessions were always packed, and no one ever beat their ticket. The towing of vehicles also went up from 50 cars in 2018 to 789 in 2020. That’s a 1,478 percent increase or 1.7 tows per year for every household in the small town. Residents reported that they had to pay thousands to get their vehicles back. Others lost homes and property because of debt caused by manufactured violations.
On January 20, 2022, the Birmingham News and Alabama.com broke the story and released an investigative report on the town’s predatory practices. Originally, reporter John Archibald was working on a story about poverty in the area, and everyone he talked with pointed to the predatory practices of the Brookside police department as one of the biggest reasons for the increase in poverty. Archibald wrote that drivers were sucked into a legal ‘black hole’ that was difficult for nearly all to overcome.
How it Started
In 2018, the town hired a new police chief, who ostensibly was the only full-time officer. Mike Jones quickly began building a police empire, lobbying for an over 500 percent increase in police spending. With the blessing of Brookside Mayor Mike Bryan, Jones hired more and more officers to patrol the six miles of town roads and the mile-and-a-half adjacent jurisdiction on Interstate 22. By 2020, officers underwent SWAT training and often dressed in riot gear. The department even parked a riot-control vehicle outside of the municipal complex/community center for effect.
In the Birmingham News first report, Jones called the town’s policing “a positive story.” He added that he would like to see a 600 percent increase in tickets. He explained, “If you had more officers and more productivity you’d have more. I think it could be more.” Both Jones and Mayor Bryan declared that the goal of the department was only to help people.
The investigation uncovered that Brookside had no budgeting system or even a policy of adopting one. Bryan and Jones claimed to have no knowledge of how the cash was spent from all those tickets.
Aftermath
Within a week after the Birmingham News investigation broke, Brookside, Alabama was featured across the world as one of the most predatory ticketing agencies anywhere. Police Chief Mike Jones resigned. The town now faces at least five federal lawsuits from people who claim that not only did the police fabricate charges but retaliated against those who filed complaints. Alabama’s Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth is now seeking investigations by the Department of Justice, the Alabama Attorney General, and is calling for audits by other state entities.
State politicians say they plan to work together to try and stop this kind of small-town policing. Alabama already has a law on the books that cities or towns with populations of less than 19,000 are not allowed to stop speeders on the interstates. Brookside police got around that rule on Interstate 22 by pulling over motorists for other types of violations such as following too closely or driving in the left lane if not passing. State lawmakers are thinking about banning small-town police from ticketing highway drivers, and keeping ticket revenue from the police and city/town general funds.
The town’s residents and others touched by the experience are still left wondering how this could have happened. Policing for profit has a lasting effect on people’s lives, not to mention their trust in law enforcement.
If you haven’t already become a member of the National Motorists Association, we encourage you to do so today and help us fight predatory speed trap operations like that of Brookside. If you have observed questionable enforcement activity on the road, report your experience on the NMA’s driver-sourced Speedtrap.org website.
