Small Town Police Dept is Out of Control

[@MrSonofhades]

I am a former employee for the Town of Brookside and its police department. I worked as one of their dispatchers and I can only describe the experience as psychological terror. The employees are treated as bad if not worse than those stopped by the police. I quit after a year for many reasons, namely the corruption and horrid behavior. For over a year I told people the stories and no one believed me or thought I was just a disgruntled ex employee. It’s so nice to see justice on the way after having to sit back and see it go on for so long. Also, if anyone is curious, look up Mike Jones and his past. He is a known embezzler but was hired by Brookside despite this fact. If anyone is wondering where all this money is going then I can tell you - it’s going in his pocket and the mayor’s pocket. Thanks again for shedding light on this.

[@Bl4ckw0lf1]

I for one am glad that you were able to get out of that hell hole. I think that you have been doing a better job than Sysiphus in relating this story. You have been vindicated. Please continue to provide assistance against this injustice. Evil wins when God men do nothing.

[@jamesr5741]

Yeah it sounds like organized crime from the top. The rest of the sycophants are forced to go along or leave.

[@JulianVR4]

WHO?!

[@knine8154]

Yes, I too hope that IS NOT your real name

[@williegallagher2124]

Respect from Ireland my friend

[@markstoudt7769]

The mistrust put into people by corrupt cops, judges and elected officials like this can never be undone.

[@nibblitman]

Yeah I mean at this point the number of cases like this and worse abuse across the country I assume that cops judges and the rest are basically corrupt by default and we need to see evidence otherwise for exceptions.

[@nibblitman]

@Baba Ganush issue at this point is for too long and far too many have decided that supporting other Police comes before integrity and duty to their community

[@Krzemieniewski1]

But who is voting corrupt officials over and over again?

[@markstoudt7769]

@@Krzemieniewski1 say it with me aliens 👽

[@AleksandarBell]

@@Krzemieniewski1 The police officers and their supporters. It’s been proven that if someone has a vested interest in something they will go and vote for it more than someone who is against something.

[@MrBgood84]

I'm from a small town in Alabama. This story is on point. Morgan county cops/ court system are one of the dirtiest institutions you can find.

[@SavingSally]

I got a bogus ticket there too. Dashcam made the difference for me.

[@MrBgood84]

@@SavingSally not surprising at all. Long story but I moved away and came back 10 years later. I got pulled over 3 times within a 30 day span. It was a total of 13 cops and a k-9 unit. I went and talked to the sheriff and threatened to get a lawyer involved... Luckily they left me alone after that.

[@ogiejii7885]

On a recent trip to Birmingham, I saw several Hoover Police vehicles in the median on I22 near Brookside. They were still there hours later on the return trip. Someone explain that please.

[@gregred78]

Russell County is another one that is a money court!

[@hippiebits2071]

The numbers in this story are insane!

[@kristofevarsson6903]

Back in 2016, I had been a brick mason for years. My neighbors were the snooty type who would never talk to you about any potential issues, they'd just have the cops talk to you on their behalf. Well, I guess one day they got tired of the pallet of bricks in my backyard because they called the cops on me for "illegally dumping" off my dock. Yeah, me throwing bricks I paid for to do the job that keeps a roof over my head, in the lake. Tooootally. So I lived in a small town in Michigan, only about a square mile wide. Completely no-crime area until this new police chief steps up after the old one retired, suddenly every single kid is a hoodlum, every driver is suspicious, you see where this is going. Police chief himself responds to the call. Doesn't knock or anything, instead he just wanders into my backyard and starts taking pictures of my property without any sort of invitation. I was woken up by my girlfriend at the time that there's cops in our backyard, so I rush downstairs and into the threshold of my backdoor in nothing but my boxers and ask the officer, "Hey, you got a warrant?" His response: "I don't need a warrant to conduct a civil investigation-" blah blah blah. He tried stepping up to me so he could occupy the threshold of the door with me, at which point he would already be inside the house. So before he got to me I took one small step forward and locked us both out of my house. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that." So he puts me in cuffs, says I'm being arrested for interfering with a police investigation and resisting an officer, and that he needs to run my license. I told him that for obvious reasons I didn't have it on me, it's in my pants, so he adds additional charges for failure to identify and failure to possess a valid ID. He proceeds to tell me that he can make do with my vehicle registration, so I tell him that I don't have my keys either and my car is locked, and that I do not consent to my vehicle being forcibly opened and searched. Didn't stop him, he broke into my car and retrieved my registration and POI from the glovebox on his own. Takes me down to the police station IN my boxers, I'm released immediately after being booked, had to sign a bunch of stuff saying I'd appear in court (you bet your ass I was going to court over this, I told them as much). THEN had to have my girlfriend pick me up in my own car while I was forced to wait out front, still in my boxers. The two weeks go by with regular phone calls from this guy telling me that if I just apologize for disrespecting him and his authority, he'll drop all charges and we can go about our lives. No way in hell was I doing that, I told him every single time I had him on camera abusing his authority and violating my rights, and I'd see him in court. On the DAY before, he calls me first thing in the morning and says it's my last chance and he'd *really* like to put this whole thing behind us, probably because I wasn't backing down. I told him: "You know what? Fine. I gotcha. I'm sorry you think I disrespected you and your authority by knowing my rights. I'm sorry you think that my voicing my displeasure at being wrongfully detained and then arrested and driven into public in nothing but my boxers was crossing a line for you. I'm sorry you're getting cold feet about going to court when you were all about levying charges on me in the heat of the moment. I'll see you tomorrow morning." and hung up. We never got to court. Before the end of regular business hours that same day, the front desk lady at the local PD (who was honestly very nice and respectful, and we knew each other outside of her job, being a small town and all) called me in the early afternoon and told me that the department had dropped the charges against me and we wouldn't need to go to court. I was very appreciative of the fact that I didn't have to miss a day of work and thanked her for letting me know, but I wasn't done with him yet, so I asked her for the IA email address, and I get it. I then email a copy of the video my girlfriend had taken the entire time I was being detained, cuffed, arrested, and hauled off. I didn't find out until after she picked me up and she told me about it, because she remembered another incident we had where I told her to record police interactions because they will absolutely lie and they're encouraged to do it. I also asked for and received the email of the Department Commander, since he was the highest up in the department you could go that was still beneath the Chief with any reports, complaints, or grievances. Sent him a copy too. I then went to the official website for the town to get the email for the city council board, sent them a copy. AND for good measure I sent a copy to Channel 7. To make an already long story MUCH shorter, after waiting around a while and living life as normal, I find out that Chief isn't Chief anymore. I finally felt vindicated. I don't know if the video I sent to the news ever got any airplay, I don't watch the news like that, but I'm sure the bad publicity and reporters blowing them up for an investigation combined with it being an official city council topic of discussion on the docket played a role in the amount of pressure the town administration was under played a part. Funnily enough, after a little while, the town went back to normal. Police were sleepy instead of jumpy, they'd actually wave to you instead of follow you around, the local kids stopped getting into trouble for nonsense reasons, people stopped telling me about getting tickets or pulled over for the most victimless of infractions. Moral of the story: ALWAYS stand up to authority, especially when it's being abused. The only thing you do when you lay down and accept your fate is hand the opposition an easy victory.

[@claybear1199]

Just letting you know after 2 years I read and enjoyed your novel

[@BANGDANGOW45]

Well done sir.

[@Hawkmoon26933]

@@claybear1199don’t throw out any spoilers, I’m halfway through.

[@LetsGoChaseThatTrain]

I know I've said it a million times, but this is what happens when the law is turned into a profit center.

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

Another word for this is "Fascism"

[@Dj.MODÆO]

It’s also what happens when people ignore their local elections and focus too much on who’s running on the state and federal level…..none of those state and federal politicians have any where near the effect on your life or LE than the local politicians do, and no politician lies and misrepresents their platform or beliefs as those on the local level because the media ignores most of them. Hell most voters don’t even know who the hell their local politicians are, much less what they stand for.

[@1USAUSA]

hey my friend... not turned into... it has always been that way since day one all across the United States of America coast to coast. It's just now these things are coming out in the open because of EASY ACCESS to TECHNOLOGIES. Everybody is recording everybody else even themselves.

[@1USAUSA]

@iTz Wuzzi *trust me and judges and cops just get bribed* All the time, but they will give the IMPRESSION that they NEVER ARE INFLUENCED by MONEY and that they are UNBIASED and FAIR... Yea Right... ROTFLMAO!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@earlestes8649]

@iTz Wuzzi what right have we given up?

[@edherwick6995]

Policing for profit is rampant and the fact that other jurisdictions and appellate judges cast a blind eye, is utterly repulsive.

[@paulhendershott667]

I love your description of the practice as being "utterly repulsive"! Nail on the head my friend!

[@MoireFly]

And the solution is so simple too - all punitive damages imposed by any judge, or any police officer, and all proceeds of any asset forfeitures should by law be entered into the general fund of the federal government. No earmarking, as as non-local as possible, and with not singular identifiable cause which a police officer or judge might want to support. And if that's politically not possible as a law, then any steps in that general direction would help; i.e. perhaps on a state-by-state level. But frankly, states shouldn't be incentivized to fine their own citizen either, so while that's better than nothing, it's not great.

[@deusvult6920]

@@MoireFly lol no. The federal government had nothing to do with this. We have this thing called the constitution. The answer isn't centralized power 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@tissuepaper9962]

@@MoireFly how about we just do away with fines entirely? Seems obvious that a financial incentive to convict creates a conflict of interests.

[@MoireFly]

​@@deusvult6920 So your objection to having money be pooled where the incentives for fraud are massively diluted by sheer scale is...? Furthermore, pooling collected fines does not centralize power to _issue_ those fines in any way. And what exactly does having a constitution have to do with the appropriateness of a policy? The constitution is a _means_ to an end, not a item of worship; it has exactly zero relevance to picking ideal policy; it may have relevance to the details of implementability. Which is fine - the point is to separate those that issue fines from the proceeds of those fines. It's not that important exactly where those proceeds end up as long as that's as non-earmarked as possible to avoid kickback schemes. If a state treasury collects em, rather any branch of state or local law enforcement: that's still hell of a lot better than things are now...

[@swdierks]

This all starts because we take a police officer's testimony as fact. If he says you 'rolled through a stop sign', then you did, period. No need for evidence or anything so inconvenient. "All power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely". With all the video capabilities out there, we need to stop this. Police should need to provide actual evidence: video, radar gun, etc. As in 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Does anyone remember that?

[@Strideo1]

When we have cases like former police officer Zachary Wester planting drugs in people's vehicles I definitely have a hard time with the notion that a cop's testimony should automatically outweigh any other witness's testimony.

[@AndukeMTGEDH]

EVERY driver needs a dash camera! It is your word against theirs. Be smart and have your own evidence

[@luvr381]

Also, power attracts the corruptible.

[@UncleKennysPlace]

Realize that most traffic infractions _are not crimes,_ but are civil infractions.

[@davidchristian8447]

@@UncleKennysPlace true, but those are held to preponderance of evidence standards. In a "he said, she said" battle, a civil suit tends not to be winnable.

[@josephbrown9665]

We were pulled over by them earlier in the year. The officer walked up to the side of my truck. I didn’t notice that my younger brother had put his badge on the top of my armrest so when he looked in the truck he was able to see it.. The officer had asked me for my license and registration. I asked him what did I do to get pulled over. He got extremely upset and he went to grab my door to open it. He got a little bit more upset when he found it was locked and he was not going to get it open. My brother opened his mouth and told him that under the law he was required to tell me the reason why he stopped us. He was starting to get a lot more upset when he got yelled at and told how to do his job. He started to tell us that we were both going to jail and that’s when he got a badge pushed into his face. I thought he was going to pull out his gun but my brother was already on the phone with the state troopers and they had someone on the way to us. He wasn’t sure when he saw the badge of a dea agent but when he was not able to tell if I was the agent or my brother. When the troopers got there they told us to go ahead and get back out on the highway if we didn’t want to wait for the sheriff to come out and explain why one of his officers was doing radar on the highway out of his jurisdiction. We got the officer’s name from the troopers and the number for the state’s attorney general. I filled out a complaint and my brother is going after the officer who stopped us to make sure that he is never allowed to be a officer anywhere else in the country.

[@JonPaul]

I hope this worked as planned, as you said.

[@fredsanford1437]

“A band of thieves need only call themselves a government and their crimes become legal” ~F. Bastiat

[@franklyncheatum2324]

Had a similar issue with some small towns in Florida. We passed a statewide law that limited the percentage of a town's revenue that could come from traffic tickets. I believe any excess beyond that limit went to the state budget. Suddenly these towns weren't as motivated to write tickets.

[@doncowboy6625]

I hope it's 0%

[@swooopg]

All ticket money should go to the state first, then handed out to local departments depending on need…any financial motivation to write a ticket just Leeds to corruption and is counter productive to public safety…this country is going to shit really fast

[@MojoPup]

Waldo's (Fla) PD was disbanded...finally! Waldo along with Hampton FL, was one of the worst Speed Traps in Florida. They finally went too far and the governor had to shut them down...long overdue. Lawtey is still a speed trap of sorts, but as far as I know, doesn't pull the crap that towns like Waldo did...they just STRICTLY enforce the speed limits thru down. But considering the lowest the speed goes is 45mph, it's not hard to obey.

[@harveywallbanger1738]

@@swooopg "All ticket money should go to..." Needy individuals., families and the infirm. You know... People in need, not governments.

[@swooopg]

@@harveywallbanger1738 no, that just creates lazy people that will never work…socialism doesn’t work

[@CeruleanTalon1]

Dash cam. Two words that will save a lot of pain. My son had a 2 week old Charger, which he worked very, very hard to afford. A person in an expensive truck backed into him then claimed my son rear ended him and he had neck injuries. My son had a dash cam with front and back cameras. Guess who won, my son.

[@w8what575]

Thank God for that dash cam! I’ve recently installed one in my vehicle as well…it should honestly be an option in vehicles today!

[@RickJohnson-vn5ys]

We live in an amazing country don’t we, where people are more then happy to lie, steal, and cheat and never feel bad about it. Sounds like most cops now days too, f*&$ing disgusting. Like we are headed back to the BC days

[@pocketsycho8720]

That isn't going to do you any good if the judge is crocked you should still get a dash cam though

[@jstokes5582]

You should have looked up the civil rights lawyer from West Virginia he is great. He sues on civil rights violations and has a detailed KZbin channel

[@TheeMelloMan]

Doesn't matter if the judge doesn't care.

[@kenhetherington756]

A small town near me (Porter , Oklahoma pop. 700) had a similar problem. Not much traffic through there, so the police were getting the locals for 1 mph over and a lot of other ridiculous tickets. They had a system where you could pay the fine to the officer right then with a credit card. ---The town voted to do away with the police department. End of problem.

[@pizzaivlife]

they screwed up by ticketing locals it sounds like. you let the locals off scot free and ticket others while spending money on the town is how you succeed apparently

[@BobbyGeneric145]

I've heard of porter... What happened to those cops once power was removed?

[@julietfischer5056]

@@BobbyGeneric145 - They probably found jobs in other departments.

[@hakimcameldriver]

Nothing but removing and hanging the corrupt cops won't cure.. public officials should get public punishment..

[@dvferyance]

As long as they can write tickets over petty victimless crimes no problem will be solved.

[@kaddiddlehopper]

Sounds as if the people of Alabama would be best served by dissolving this township.

[@kd5you1]

I was thinking the same thing. Unincorporate this town and be done with it.

[@steelisthemeal]

@@kd5you1 definitely

[@dvferyance]

There are plenty of other towns that do this same crap. We need to ban victimless crimes. There needs to be more reasons why a cop can write a ticket other than just because they can.

[@gavinjenkins899]

@@dvferyance Traffic violations are not victimless crimes. Dangerous driving kills pedestrians, passengers, other drivers, does property damage

[@dvferyance]

@@gavinjenkins899 sometimes they can be like if someone runs a red light in the middle of the night when the nearest car is miles away.

[@Wooskii1]

This story is extremely similar to something I experienced, and I would like to add an additional layer that wasn't talked about in this video- The courts. After me and a friend got pulled over on motorcycles in a small county (Glauster) off the Atlantic City Expressway, we got tickets for harassment and reckless driving because the cop said "we were messing with a buss". I told the cop (before getting the ticket) that yes we did pass 1 bus miles back but we did nothing wrong. I was 18 at the time, and after telling my family what happened, my grandfather insisted on hiring a lawyer "The best in the county". We get to court and neither the cop or bus driver were there, and the judge, the lawyer, and prosicuter were all best friends. They all met up in the back room for a few minutes and then the lawyer came out and said "I worked out a deal, all you have to do is plea 5 mph over the speed limit". As a nieve kid facing 5 points on my clean license, and who knows what kind of legal action (fines and probation? Driving school? Suspended license?) I happily took the "deal" like a life line. It wasn't until later I had realized how messed up the situation was, and that they all knew that, legally, they had to let me go due to nobody else showing up. I also understood why my grandfather was "not pleased" with the outcome when I learned how much money that scumbag lawyer charged him for 10 minutes of "work" hanging with his buddies, and I still had to pay the hundreds in court fees. I know they had that offer set up well before the court date. It's probably the standard deal they offer when they have nothing but want the fees. It's just wrong in so many ways... If you care to hear it, here's the full story; I had just got my motorcycle permit and took a day trip to the NJ shore with a friend. He had 2 bikes and decided we would go once I was legal (I already knew how to ride, grew up riding off road bikes, and had a car for 3 years). On the way home a bus was driving 5 under the speed limit in the left lane with a car next to it in the right, so we just stayed a bit behind the car (in a proper 2 bike stagger at a safe distance) for about a mile or so, with no other options. The bus driver decided he didn't want to stay in the left lane, after quite a while, and hit his brakes then pullied into the right lane behind the car he was riding next to (exactly where we had been the past 1 or 2 miles). My friend sped up and easily got in front of the bus and into the left lane, but as I waited for him to get clear the bus was already in my lane (the right) braking hard and forcing me over the "rumble strip" inches from the grass. I cleared the rear bumper of the bus just in time to switch to the left lane and pass. I felt like it might have been intentional and was shocked by the close call... About 3 more miles down the road a cop pulls us over and claims we "were messing with a bus". The driver called 911, (my 2 theories are A- he realized he almost ran someone off the road and was preemptively covering his ass, or B- it was a casino tour buss with histarical old people freaked out by the "scary motorcycle gang") I didn't even get a chance to hit the horn let alone make ANY kind of gestures, I just wanted to get far away from a clearly dangerous bus driver. That was it, we were tired and just cruising home minding our business. No goofing around what so ever.

[@pocketsycho8720]

I hired stites law llp to fight my bogus stop sign ticket In the bronx despite having a witness that said the officer told me he was instructed to give the me a ticket but believed I did no crime. Stites refused to provide me any information on my case and I ended up filing a complaint with the bar. This piece of shit tried to pull rep like I don't care who you worked for or how bad you think I am why did you withhold information from me for my case. The answer because he didn't do anything but confirm the officers testimony I could have done that. I left bad reviews on Facebook I was blocked one of my reviews deleted and stites wiped all negative comments on his page while leaving positive ones which is a violation of the consumer review fairness act.

[@billyback1038]

You only made two mistakes in your story, kid. Talking bad about lawyers and old people. I'm an "old people" and Steve is a lawyer. However, I'm not one that gets upset when kids talk about our idiotsyncracies. :)

[@pocketsycho8720]

@@billyback1038 If your talking about me I can say this you boomers destroyed the economy making life harder for us young adults and as far as lawyers are concerned we can do without them.

[@Wooskii1]

@@billyback1038 I didn't mean to imply all old people are hysterical, I have deep respect for good people with life experience. I know I'm guilty of it myself, but we've all seen seniors get overly bent out of shape due to misunderstanding the little things that have become normal in the current day- maybe scary motorcycles, 5 kids of various races walking, minor HOA association violations, or someone turning around in a driveway. Misunderstanding different aspects of culture is obviously a human problem in general. I only have those two theories on why the driver would call the cops but I'm open to hearing any others... As far as the lawyer, judge, and prosecutor I still say they're scumbags. They had a racket going and everyone knew it. I'm not saying everyone in those professions are all bad, just them three in particular.

[@eldie3d]

The police went from 50 tows to 789 tows in 2020 - when most people were quarantined at home and only essential workers went to and from work. Oh, and an occasional run to get food and supplies. The year that America was locked down, the police tow rate went up 1560%!!!!

[@zakerid]

The quarantine in the South was very different than much of the country.

[@SatansSimgma]

I would bet their is a relationship between police and the tow. Mayor probably owns the truck.

[@williamhall7165]

@@SatansSimgma your must be physic.

[@thathobbitlife]

That's mind boggling

[@elik.webber7630]

But the cops will say aren't we doing a good job. oh ya they are doing a good job robbing people of there hard worked for paychecks. this town seems to do anything to justify the myth they are serving and protecting its the who they are protecting that is in question. it sure as hell isn't people who travel near their jerk water town. .gotta beware of the good ole boy system and its hangin" judges too. you will never get justice anywhere near that town.

[@geoffhayes905]

I've been saying for a couple of years now that there need to be a entity to investigate the police misconduct that is not attached to the police in any way and have the ability to arrest just police in any wrongdoings. The police are too easily corrupted when they know they are going to be protected internally

[@RadDadisRad]

Who’s going to govern it? We have the Legislative, executive and judicial branch but they all conspire to promote each other’s perversion. The Supreme Court drops the ball more often than not. We don’t need to police the cops. We need less cops because the ones we have generally suck.

[@thenormalyears]

@@RadDadisRad we absolutely have to police the cops or else we have effectively zero rights and we dont live in a nation anymore we just live under the thumb of feudal lords known as sheriffs

[@IridescentW]

@@RadDadisRad Tax paying citizens.

[@ralphholiman7401]

Complain on the judge instead. He's letting it happen. The Judicial Inquiry Commission, created under the provisions of the Alabama Constitution, is charged with investigating complaints of misconduct or professional wrongdoing on the part of judges.

[@Apocalypse_Cow]

Absolutely correct Geoff. The majority of the LEOs in the state of CT are CORRUPT to the bone. Being in a Blue state, they know that they are protected from the Governor and AG on down to their own Chief. It is time to GET RID OF THEM and replace them with people who have morals and ethics and truly do "Protect & Serve".

[@joelquinn2037]

The purpose of a citation(ticket) is to promote public safety. Ive worked in small towns for half my career. Where i work now the chief and mayor both have been ethical and neither have told me to write tickets. The last place i worked the mayor demanded we write tickets cause "the city needs money", told the chief to fire any officer that didnt write them. This mayor even told me personally [to write] the city needed money. I write approx 1 in 15 ppl i stop which may be couple a month. Our judge helps ppl by reducing fines and even dismissing some. Fyi, i prefer public relations. We work for the people. Our job is to protect people, property and keep the peace.

[@fyrman9092]

Unfortunately as one of the good co[s, you don't receive the praise you do. Thank you for upholding your oath.

[@michaelpace64]

I hope you wrote the dirty mayor a ticket cause it sounds like he deserves one.

[@cycleboy8028]

I woulda sat outside city hall for the mayor to get in his car then lit his butt up with every obscure charge possible.

[@climber950]

Thank you Joel for being a true police officer with character. Sadly officers and departments like this put good officers like you in jeopardy. People abused by the system become desperate and unpredictable. Be safe out there and thank you for your honorable service to your fellow human beings.

[@_Circus_Clapped_]

I got a ticket for passing a line of slow cars going 50mph, I passed all of them going 80mph, merged back and got back to 65mph, but the officer still saw me and decided to pull me for going 80mph, for literally improving the flow of traffic... I just said fúck it and paid off the ticket

[@tomnisen3358]

Between 20 and 26 years ago I was a traffic reporter for a local radio station. I was the only non cop performer, as we just drove around and called different police departments for wrecks, and other things. I started giving away police speed traps live when I saw them! Never a complaint!

[@domfer2540]

Maybe they should remember that Alabama is an open carry state. Unmarked person in an unmarked vehicle is a threat.

[@benc.enlots]

Exactly. Doing what they are doing is a good way to end up like Buford Pusser's and his wife....

[@filanfyretracker]

This was my exact thought, totally unmarked people trying to make you exit your vehicle. Someday one will get shot, And if it does happen I hope that driver has good dash cam coverage front and rear in HD at a minimum. That way when they inevitably end up in court they can show on video that person was not in any way displaying proof of being a law officer. Some places in the US have in fact made it illegal for unmarked vehicles and plain cloths officers to conduct traffic stops. Mostly for officer safety.

[@redbull8661]

Flashing lights to warn other drivers isn't illegal but interference with a 911 call definitely is!

[@atticstattic]

Depends on where you are

[@ogiejii7885]

There is case law, in Florida, that flashing headlights is 1A free speech. A different jurisdiction, but 1A is 1A.

[@CantankerousDave]

And they also would have pulled her over for not having her lights on. /s

[@brentboswell1294]

In many states, blinking your brights to warn of police ahead is against state law.

[@Carahan]

And the article describes the officer seized the lady's phone and destroyed it. That's a 5th Amendment violation right there, an illegal taking.

[@Aries73]

You can’t tell me this doesn’t happen in enough states to warrant a class action lawsuit.

[@Kathyskollectables]

Unfortunately qualified immunity puts a stop to any prosecution. End qualified immunity now. Until it ends, stuff like this will continue.

[@jamestcampbell610]

They knew the law and made up laws, QI should not protect them.@@Kathyskollectables

[@darrellwilliams5657]

It does, some places worst.

[@TheCaptainmojo1973]

Exactly what we dealt with in Stringtown, Colcord, Big Cabin, and a few others here in Oklahoma. It got so bad the the FBI and DOJ got involved back in the mid 00’s and a judge, a police chief (Stringtown), as well as several officers and deputies were convicted of multiple crimes and were jailed. Stringtown was back it it in no time until the Oklahoma department of public safety completely removed their right to patrol any federal or state highways in their jurisdiction in 2019. Kiowa county officers and deputies have also lost their right to enforce traffic rules on any state or federal highways. Lots of scams out there, none worse than those perpetrated by government officials.

[@garymackey850]

Yep...don't forget Kiowa and Savanna Oklahoma (north of Stringtown) bad enough for locals but killers for Texas and other out-of-state plates...it's a cash cow that just keeps on giving....//

[@BobbyGeneric145]

EVERYONE in Oklahoma knows about Stringtown!

[@scittw22]

Asher, Hulbert, Bernice

[@THE-michaelmyers]

@@garymackey850 There is several towns in Texas that are horrible. One I can't remember the name is on US 287 up near the Panhandle and several on US 59. I got stopped about 5 years ago in Tenaha Texas. Then there is Corrigan, Texas. In my situation in Tenaha I got so pissed off I came close to taking a swing at that idiot that stopped me. The thing that bothered me the most was the cop was more interested in how much cash I had on me. Mind you I was just stopped for doing 10 over. I finally told the cop all I had was plastic and maybe $40 in cash. During that time I was working on two different contracts and had to drive between Shreveport Lousianna and Lufkin Texas several times. After that day I went around Tehaha. I never have been back through there since I paid my fine.

[@TheCaptainmojo1973]

@@scittw22 I forgot about Hulbert. I remember hearing how bad they were. Also Warr Acres is really bad.

[@derf_the_mule1405]

This is by definition extorsion. I hope the little old lady wins her case. Hopefully this will bankrupt the town. This is clearly not legal. The entire police force and mayor need jail time.

[@robertdillon9989]

This is organized crime! A RICO case , get the FBI in on it !

[@leecox1513]

@@robertdillon9989 Are you kidding? The FBI is at the top of the "crooked" heap?

[@mdm17146]

Same thing happened to me. Cop said I had run a stop sign and I really had stopped. He pulled me over 4 blocks and two more stop signs past the intersection. There was no way he could have even seen me at the time I went through that intersection. He intensely interrogated me on where I was headed, where I was coming from, why I was in the neighborhood,, etc. It would have cost me much more in lost wages to fight it than to just pay. There are deceptive and abusive police officers everywhere. Standards to get that job need to be increased.

[@thundercricket4634]

If I were involved in the investigation into this I'd take a good hard look at the circumstances of the previous mayors death a year ago. Kind of odd that the mayor passed away, then 5 minutes after his replacement and the replacements henchmen got installed things go off the rails. Sounds almost like the old mayor got "removed" for standing in the way of an extortion racket.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Public officials should be required to prove that they aren't corrupt at threat of death. The PEOPLE of the United States are innocent until proven guilty; our elected representatives are not.

[@jgunther3398]

they forced him to eat red meat until he got bowel cancer

[@al1383]

Law enforcement in general is out of control!! There's a lack of accountability and consequences for their misconduct! GET A DASH CAM AND ALWAYS RECORD THE POLICE!!! THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND, AND THEY'RE NOT HERE FOR YOU!

[@kkal1183]

Agreed, It's a systemic problem. What's the solution?

[@al1383]

@@kkal1183 End qualified immunity and staff Internal Affairs with citizens who have no ties with law enforcement. This, law enforcement policing law enforcement isn't working

[@al1383]

@@kkal1183 And, all police body cam and vehicle camera footage should go straight to a public website. Where it is saved for 5 years.

[@bissetttom1738]

and it starts with the doj, most corrupt.

[@donlum9128]

I agree totally with you Steve. I'm a retired LEO. Gaining reasonable compliance of the law by the public doesn't mean being a ticket writing fool or cops breaking the law. Judge needs to be investigated also. Lawsuits waiting to happen.

[@jonkeau5155]

We used to have that problem in Oklahoma, then the state legislature passed a law where no more than 20% of a city’s income can be from tickets and fines, and 4 mph or less over the speed limit you can only get a warning. Those speed trap towns have shriveled up significantly!

[@skippylippy547]

@LeMarkD Yes, that is a good solution to stop this kind of behavior. Thanks! Sounds like even the county that Brookside was in was corrupt too. At this point the State has power to go in there and clean it up.

[@jamesonmiller8283]

I feel that the ticketing authority should not get any revenue from ticketing (aside for court costs) as it is a perverse incentive, as seen in this story.

[@jonkeau5155]

@@jamesonmiller8283 the way the state wrote the law was that they estimated how much income the small towns with major highways passing through their main streets might need to provide decent law enforcement based on average crime levels and officers per capita, then told them if they want more funds to police more then they need to increase taxes on locals. If it was really a problem locals would be ok paying more tax to have more policing, if it wasn’t really necessary then the people would push back against tax increases.

[@climber950]

And many citizens painted “speed zone ahead” signs all over, even on parked semi trailers.

[@no_peace]

20%, unbelievable

[@frankyflowers]

they need some 1st amendment auditors to record the speed traps and get arrested so they can make a federal case of it.

[@swinde]

Back in the 1970s there was a crooked police operation in Southaven, Mississippi. At the time, the legal drinking age was 18. There was a Navy training center and base in Millington, TN and the drinking age there and in Memphis, TN was still 21. These guys would target mainly servicemen by stalking in the parking lots of bars and pulling over vehicles with out of state plates. The problem was so bad the Navy had to put these establishments "off limits" for the service members on liberty. The officers there were paid by how many arrests they made. Conflict of interest, I think.

[@robstransportllc4460]

Desoto County is still as crooked as ever. Probably worse.

[@LV_CRAZY]

San Diego CA police had similar issues. Next door National City was know as Nasty City for a reason.

[@lordvalentine471]

I was there in 1980 and it was pretty much the same they would actually grab you and steal your money beat the crap out of you and run off and this was the police

[@larrymorley8968]

It never ends when it comes to citizens and police, does it? Here, in upstate NY (about 2 1/2 miles North of NY City), the local cops were asked, on multiple occasions, by the mayor, the city council, and some citizen's groups) to stand outside or sit in their cars near the free parking lot downtown, where the bars and restaurants tend to be. Every single time I'm aware that this has been contemplated - as far as I know, it's never been implemented - it's a tourist town, and the bar and restaurant owner's association has had more than enough clout to prevent the implementation of any such "program". Steve, I respectfully disagree with you regarding giving police (more) discretion than they have already. Any officer that writes a ticket for something that isn't a crime, and attests to having witnessed the commission under perjury, should be charged with perjury. Moreover, if, when writing and signing said ticket or attestation, the penalty they're assessed should be enhanced by the fact they were in possession of a deadly weapon; being "on duty" should be prima fascia evidence of being "on duty".

[@maxsdad538]

I believe the legal drinking age (off base) was 18 for beer, 21 for hard liquor. At least that was what it was when I was stationed in Biloxi back in 1972.

[@johnnylightning1491]

This is a perfect argument for why fines and fees need to go to the state and not let the local municipality keep the. That would tend to stop this kind of nonsense. BTW someone ought to put up a billboard at the last exit before this RICO town and direct folks to a detour around the town.

[@updem]

That's actually a fantastic idea.

[@triptheroad]

I bet billboards down there are cheap too

[@evilmike74]

No, fines need to be donated to crime related charities.

[@marcosda4th92]

@@evilmike74 crime related charities? Don't know if I want my hard earned cash going to big don and his goons 👍

[@chrishalling8518]

If you think that the towns wouldn't make some agreement with the state about the distribution of those excess funds that's a fantasy.

[@PointsPrecision]

I've always been told to call 911 before stopping for an unmarked car, especially at night, so that's crazy that they charged her for doing that

[@DavidLLambertmobile]

NM has a state law ⚖ saying NO plain clothes or unmarked vehicles, SUVs can do traffic enforcement. No nonsense traffic tickets. Only police Lts or above can approve a traffic stop in plain clothes. Unmarked 🚔.

[@renees1021]

Excellent idea!

[@hotbammamom33]

You do that in brookside and they will get you for that say you made a call that wasnt a emergency..

[@josephtaub20]

I once lived had a similar situation. I was shopping in a resort town that more than quadrupled its size during the summer. The town became afraid they'd get visitors like Spring Break in Florida (this was Delaware) and freaked out. That summer there somehow appeared FIVE law enforcement departments in that town. I was driving on the main street of town, having made a purchase in that town. As I pulled up behind a car stopped at one of the town's three traffic lights, on a road that went eight blocks total before leaving town and was NOT A THRU ROAD going anywhere (It turned around at the ocean) I honked to let in two girls hitchhiking after utilizing the town's movie theater. A cop car waiting behind bushes in the median pulled out and I was arrested for "stopping on the highway," and hauled off to county court at midnight. The girls were arrested for trespassing. I tried to fight the charges and established that the cop hadn't noticed I'd stopped behind a stopped car, at a red light the officer didn't notice was there. The cop said "You didn't stop for a stoplight, you, pulled over to pick up the girls (who were not allowed to testify or even be in the courtroom). I said, "If I pulled over, how was I stopped on the highway, and incidentallyhow is a blind-end street a highway?" At this point the cop flustered, got off the witness stand and started towards me swinging his balled fists and the judge allowed it. I caught the drift and changed my plea. The judge looked up the minimum fine and released me (after I got cash by calling my farther). The ticket disappeared without ever being listed on my driver's licence. At the end of the summer, the merchants there petitioned the town in complaint after finding their store revenues severely decreased, as the word got out and people stayed away in droves. The next summer there was only the one local department.

[@imbradandyouarenot]

We need to collect data on all police departments so this type of abuse can be stopped.

[@YoutubeHandlesSuckBalls]

We have investigated our behaviour and cleared ourselves of all wrongdoing.

[@thegreaseboys3263]

Yep, that's what happens when the robber gets to investigate his own robbery.

[@1USAUSA]

@@thegreaseboys3263 yep or that's what happens when a r@pist gets to investigate his own r@ping of a fem@le.

[@thegreaseboys3263]

@@1USAUSA Exactly

[@kevinsimmons542]

Good one!!! :)

[@aledmondson4616]

Wow!..🤣🤣🤣

[@gbrooke5580]

I certainly hope that this story prompts an FBI investigation.

[@DisposableEgo]

The FBI won't look into police departments that kill Black children. Do you really think they will investigate traffic claims?

[@boosted10speed]

What the video does not talk about is the misdemeanor charges, and FELONY charges..They are illegal DRUG charges!!!! Small town infested with DRUGS and CRIME, that has been OVERLOOKED for decades. They also patrol 1.5 miles of I-22 because Jefferson County only has ONE officer to cover about a 40 square miles are, that includes I-22. The State and County RARELY patrol I-22, which is a PIPELINE for illegal drug and human trafficking from Atlanta to the Memphis area, and further northwest. Brookside Police STOP illegal drugs from heading to a town near you, by enforcing the law on I-22 and in their small town. The people who say they didn’t commit a crime, are flat out liars. Most of these big dollars are also from Brookside PD performing felony arrest warrants. These are some of the bravest police officers out there, doing their job for pennies. They could easily sit and eat donuts all day, but they are highly trained, unlike the surrounding towns, and should be appreciated and thanked for cleaning up the small town and stopping the illegal drugs from coming to a town near you.

[@DisposableEgo]

@@boosted10speed hahaha 🤣😂 the chief of police stepped down

[@mattbibeault843]

Sounds like the feds need to go after the department with RICO charges

[@spikey2740]

That's exactly what I was thinking. There's another way too. I believe it was in the '60s. A shitsburg in Georgia, located near the Florida border, had a scheme to make money the old fashioned way - they stole it from everyone passing through with out-of-states license plates, among other things. Things got so bad the Governor (Lester Maddox)? got involved and the bottom line was the town's municipal license was terminated. Poof, no government, no cops, no tickets, no more bullshit.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Using the Federal Government is like trying to take a hungry bear for a walk without a leash. Best you can do is point it the right way and hope

[@mark98115]

No need for the feds. Sounds like the sheriff knows there is a problem. He should be able to take care of it.

[@bigjoer6887]

The Mayor, Judge, and every cop in that town should be arrested for violating the public's constitutional rights. They should do long sentences. This cannot stand in America!!!

[@benjaminfinlay829]

They _bought an APC?!_ When they don't even have a SWAT Team to use it?! It's not military hardware, but... this is raising all kinds of red flags, and ringing _serious_ alarm bells for me.

[@rexman971]

It's going to be the zombie apocalypse and we are the zombies

[@ewetoobblowzdogg8410]

They just want to be prepared for their unintentional oppression of the public. Nothing to see there

[@richardmillhousenixon]

They _dont_ have a SWAT team? JFC yeah that is a big red flag. If they had a SWAT team that would probably throw up a much smaller red flag, but if they DON'T, Jesus Christ. At least now I know never to get within 20 miles of that town.

[@jgunther3398]

in my town in the '70s drug smugglers, state politicians, former and current police had a farm or compound and they had an apc with a 50 cal machine gun. crazy, but it was all crazy. eventually some went to prison and others went further up in their careers. one got a police academy named after him

[@jgunther3398]

yes, the town is in the u.s.a. :)

[@JustOneEarth]

The FBI needs to get involved and investigate this department, the local judge, and everyone associated with them. I expect some charges of deprivation of rights and conspiracy would follow.

[@bissetttom1738]

do you mean the corrupt fbi? i know the evil is at the top.

[@gavinjenkins899]

if the FBI still exists in a year, sure!

[@lvsluggo007]

I wouldn't count on the FBI, lately they've become seriously corrupt along with many other "three-letter-acronym" agencies in the US government.

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

They really need to throw these town officals into prison

[@1x1HealthyEnergybyAndrew]

Into the public guillotine

[@RadDadisRad]

Drag them out of the offices and string them up trees.

[@Strideo1]

@@1x1HealthyEnergybyAndrew Calm down, Robespierre.

[@guardrailbiter]

@@Strideo1 Alright, alright. We'll use _private_ guillotines.

[@nealgunn5862]

I’m so glad Brookside is getting exposed I have been through there many times thank you for doing a piece on this Steve

[@ShukenFlash]

I've dealt with a town like this. One of their plows had knocked down a speed limit sign where it dropped. They were pulling over everyone on their stretch of highway (not interstate just a 2 lane US highway.) I went to the courthouse to fight it and found out there were dozens of other people there for the same thing. Turned out it was $150 to fight it or $160 to plead guilty and have them not report it to insurance or the state and expunge it if you didn't get another ticket for a year. And they had some insane rule, supposedly, where you had to use their public defender in traffic court and couldn't have your own lawyer. Needless to say everyone was spending the extra $10 to just not deal with it.

[@ShukenFlash]

And it's always rubbed me the wrong way that they could basically say, even if the court decides you're 100% innocent, that you still had to pay them either way just to fight it. Even if you did nothing but drive through the town you could be out $150 with basically no recourse.

[@donmills10]

@@bigdougscommentary5719 you figure it out genius.

[@machintelligence]

@@donmills10 Expect to lose.

[@z08840]

@@machintelligence depends...

[@donmills10]

@@machintelligence :laughs: you need cognitive skills to understand my comment. Sorry, you don't have any.

[@juliepippin8710]

I'm from Alabama and I've never heard of brookside. It makes me mad that things like this still happen in small towns. They know people will probably just pay the fines instead of fighting them. I think they need to be investigated by the FBI. All small towns that make money from speed traps should be investigated.

[@feellucky271]

The way things are the FBI is probably either complicit or behind the activity and takes a cut just like Old Joe. We're in a very sad place as a nation and humanity in general.

[@thedeeking]

Brookside police use all black UNMARKED police cars when sitting on I-22. Real piece of work that town.

[@nocturnalmayhem0]

yea a lot of towns do that but you can always tell if its a cop if ya radar detector goes off lol

[@frosty3693]

A couple of decades ago, there was a small town in Missouri, with no interstate near by, that was doing pretty much the same thing with speeding tickets. (the town was in a depression, the speed limit was 55 except at the town where it was 35, or less) They would stop people for one MPH over. And the town was making big bucks from the tickets. Untill they stopped a state representative. He went back to the capitol and had passed a law limiting the persentage of revenue a town could make on traffic tickets. The town reduced their police and only had one police car when all was said and done.

[@KalebKronic]

Did it happen to be Macks creek? They were known to be super bad years ago along Highway 54. They have no police force at all nowadays, but have heard all the stories from back in the day since i live about 20 miles away.

[@Carahan]

There were similar cases last decade in Ohio and Florida. In the end, the legislatures of both states dissolved the towns and turned them into unincorporated area of the county. No city, no police force.

[@jimbell3821]

@@KalebKronic Yep, that was Mack's Creek. They were so bad the legislature passed a state-wide law prohibiting towns and cities from using more than a certain percentage of their revenue from fines for operating expensed. I think the limit they set was 45% (still pretty high); Mack's Creek was getting close to 90% of theirs from fines. And, to no one's surprise, an audit of their finances found some significant irregularities in their books. It was so bad the residents voted to disincorporate and they are no more.

[@jimbell3821]

Yes, Mack's Creek. They disincorporated over it, so they're no more thank goodness.

[@witkr904]

That’s why we have a 3mph variance in WI by law.

[@benjaminjwilson6694]

OMG, I hope every officer working in this town gets their fair share of karma.

[@silentvoiceinthedark5665]

in jail. There I fixed it.

[@guardrailbiter]

But there are no officers... only _agents._

[@dustyc324]

they won't. some might get let go if they can't uphold the racket.

[@jacobheidkamp6131]

I'm from Brookside, In the year before this story, they pulled me over probably 20 times. Most times most times they let me go, once they gave me 2 tickets for wreckers driving and failure to yield for emergency vehicle. They are the only department to pull me over in the last 10 years. We are now down to 2 cops and a supervisor.

[@adamfurtaw915]

You know who insists that someone else is lying? Liars do.

[@Rjisawake]

💯💯💯💯💯

[@tomclifton3920]

In Missouri we have the Macks Creek Law (2015) which as a result of speed trap enriched towns limits the percentage of revenue a community can make from traffic tickets to 10% of their total budget. Anything in excess goes to the state so the community has less incentive to run speed traps. How well this reigns back small towns is questionable...

[@manny7684]

Pleasant Valley has found ways to code tickets as other infractions

[@sujimtangerines]

I need to see if there's been an update here, or in another channel. This is exactly what the Justice Dept should be investigating.

[@EvilVacuum]

A perfect example of how small government & law enforcement can be fallible & malicious. It’s so frustrating to hear people defend these groups as if they are incapable of wrong doing. Power corrupts.

[@jj18057]

On the other hand the small town government is easier to change. Big city corruption is deeply entrenched.

[@RhizometricReality]

The civilian drowns in violence of the state

[@EvilVacuum]

@@jj18057 they both have their pros & cons. A larger government in theory would have more oversight & regular auditing. For example, whenever you hear about embezzlement it is always small companies or small town governments.

[@joepenfield]

@@EvilVacuum But when you hear of cops acting like gangsters, extortion, beatings, killings, it's usually in really large departments like New York City, Philly, Phoenix, Baltimore or in the state police, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana being good examples.

[@tme9384]

@@joepenfield, or Latimer County, OK back in the day.

[@Marshal_Dunnik]

Time for the federal DOJ to get involved. Also, state police should patrol interstates.

[@the_kombinator]

Don't they? Around here, the city cops can't do a damn thing on the highway - you could speed by them and they cannot do anything except radio it in to the OPP.

[@ChibiQilin]

Half the city's total income? That's insane.

[@JPaterson8942]

I read that as half the cities total crime. I was both confused and amazed.

[@Strideo1]

@Bobb Grimley It's crazy and completely unacceptable. The Institute for Justice is already suing other cities for practices like this because it's impossible to get a fair trial when the judge knows that more than half his paycheck comes from the fines and citations issued by the local police.

[@GeorgeWMays]

Does anybody remember Hacienda Village near Fort Lauderdale? The state of Florida ended up revoking the city charter. It no longer exists. Same sort of thing as this case.

[@2olvets443]

One has to wonder just how much longer this town will have it's charter! Seems State and Feds may be having a field day with some corruption there.

[@davidcisco4036]

Perhaps law enforcement fines should go to taxpayers, and not to government.

[@_PatrickO]

In other states they change the law so all fines from tickets written on any interstate goes to the state. It immediately puts a stop to these practices because the small town can no longer keep any money for any ticket on the interstate. That way you can't get nabbed by corrupt cops just passing through.

[@thomaslubben8559]

Yes. That is the root of the evil. I hear in some countries all traffic fines go to charities.

[@wingracer1614]

@@thomaslubben8559 In the US, none of that matters. For instance, states with lotteries will tell you all the lottery proceeds go to the state's public schools. That's good right? Yeah except all the money that the state had been spending on schools now gets diverted to other things so the school system still gets the same amount of money but the state has more.

[@Lucid-Fox]

That town is absolutely corrupt

[@jamesretired5979]

I went to court just before Christmas in a town like this. There was so many people at court that bailiffs were yelling out the front and back doors. The judge was so pissed that he asked every one there who was guilty, 2 stud up. He dismissed the charges on everyone else with a Merry Christmas

[@wetrock2766]

It happened to someone I know, He was stopped in a small Florida town, on radar, for speeding. 5 miles above the speed limit. It so happens that he works for the federal communications department. Back in his office he checked the towns radar and emitting devices permit. They had no permit issued or applied for. He had a fine of 25K $ imposed to the hick town for operating a radar device without a federal permit. It's not everyone who can retaliate legally against these money grabbing police departments.

[@ostrichmen7125]

For anyone who is watching this video in late 2022 and is disgusted and frustrated there is a sweet sweet revenge story full of irony after all this. Mike Jones, the police chief during all of this ticketing for profit, resigned as chief of police a few months after these allegations were made public and viral. A few months after that, he was pulled over in another town for doing 77mph in a 55 zone, but he got away without a ticket because he presented the sheriff's deputy with his badge from when he was chief of police in Brookside. While this may make you more disgusted and frustrated to learn, you'll be happy to know that when the sheriff's office found out that Jones had resigned as chief of police, they decided to send someone to his home with a warrant for his arrest for impersonating an officer, as that was not a valid police badge, and he has been indicted by a grand jury for both impersonating an officer and speeding, punishable by up to 10 years in prison for a class C felony. And this is completely unrelated to the fact that just a few weeks ago judge recently ruled that officers from this town that are being sued will not be protected by qualified immunity from a class action lawsuit against their money driven ticket policy. We may actually see some justice served here

[@questioneverything4633]

It's time to abolish qualified immunity and start putting heads on pikes again in cases of corruption like this.

[@robertstoneking7916]

Heads on pikes seems excessive. Would we need a constitutional ammendment to revoke their citizenship or could we write a law for that?

[@questioneverything4633]

@@robertstoneking7916 the way they treat us is pretty excessive and outside of the law as well. Until they start respecting our rights, why respect theirs?

[@blackhawk7r221]

In my recent memory, no less than twice the Louisiana State Police have had to go into two small towns and take over the police departments for this very problem. The corrupt departments would trump up civil asset forfeiture if they saw a vehicle on the interstate that they would like to own. This was during the days when the big Shamu looking Impala SS’s were being made in the 90’s. What got them caught were the Mexicans who would transport towed auction cars back down over the border. These guys knew that they were being targeted, so would carry cash to pay “fines” directly to the local cops right there on the shoulder of I-10. Then one of the drivers called the State Police. Game over. Nearly the entire department was arrested in one town. Hell, even the old show 20/20 (I think it was) did an expose’ on another I-10 town in Jefferson Davis Parish because the corruption was so rampant. Legislation should be enacted to prevent profiteering by local small town police. For a while, Louisiana legislation did introduce a bill that prevented local cops from patrolling interstates. We rejoiced, but the State Sheriff’s Association prevented passage. Same with marijuana legalization. The Sheriff’s Association flat out said that they make far too much money off of marijuana arrests to ever legalize it.

[@Doxymeister]

We've got a small town near us where that happened--our Highway Patrol had to take them over, get rid of all the local cops. Crazy thing is, the town was so tiny, maybe 700 people, but they had something like 10 cops. Due to small county roads, if you wanted to get to the county seat, my town, you had to go through this tiny town or go approximately 40 miles out of your way and double back. My own town has around 2,500 people, and we have a big PD, plus the Park Police, county sheriff headquartered here, National Park Patrol Division AND the local tribe has their own police department, the Lighthorse Police. We are SUPER law enforcement-heavy. Oh I almost forgot that Fish and Game has an office here too, LOL, with F&G officers. I guess it wasn't hard to find enough officers to cover that tiny little town when they kicked the police department out.

[@jasonkaiser1179]

Sounds like Gretna! I always make sure I avoid that town when I go to New Orleans.

[@SissyKool]

Florien and New Llano are 2 in Louisiana it happened to. I live in the area of both...lol

[@blackhawk7r221]

@@Gandalf721 It’s not a particular sheriff. It’s the head of the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association with hundreds of regional sheriffs who all share the same opinion. Lots of legal personal revenue kickbacks from LACE offenses. It pays to police, as they often say behind closed doors. An officer may have a normal salary of $65K, but he can triple that through some of Louisiana’s policing programs.

[@Foobar_The_Fat_Penguin]

After watching this channel for some time, I get the impression that a lot of problems could be fixed by simply doing away with the American rule and switching to "loser pays". In this case, if the town lost every case on appeal and had to pay all the fees and costs attached to that, the financial incentive would quickly disappear.

[@svenjorgensenn8418]

The government is so incompetent that's why our judiciary screwed us with the immunity crap.

[@starsfan6878]

Cities lose very seldomly in court. Lots of people (a) don't have the money to try and fight the charges, (b) don't have the time to take off work to try and fight the charges, or (c) don't live in the town and can't afford to go there half a dozen times to fight the charges. Even if the city did have to "loser pay," they'd still come out very net cash positive.

[@Foobar_The_Fat_Penguin]

@@starsfan6878 I'm not sure I can follow the logic. As to cities rarely losing (I haven't fact-check that claim but let's accept it for argument's sake), that would probably apply to "normal" cases, not outlandish tickets such as these. And it could be that they win so often simply because few people choose to fight which is exactly what we're trying to fix here. In regards to (a): If the lawyers know that they'll get paid by the town in the end, we can presume that they'll be happy to take on any such slam dunk case. It's easy money, after all. As to (b) and (c): It's my understanding that if you're represented by an attorney you don't actually have to be present at the proceedings when you're fighting a ticket. But even if you had to be there in person and take time off work for it: That would simply be another reimbursement you'd be entitled to under "loser pays". Here in Germany, for instance, where it is "loser pays", if you win the case you (in general) can get compensated for any loss of income incurred by being there during the trial.

[@chadh3441]

Well it requires people to have the guts to stand up and fight back and hold them all accountable. No one wants to do it and that's why they act this way and have gotten away with it for so long. Who is going to change their evil ways if there is no punishment or reprisals to worry about, regardless if how vile or disturbing the crime being committed is? It's only when you know your ass WILL BE handed to you when you mess up, that make people begin to act right.

[@greybeard5123]

You're assuming fair and impartial Judges. These are local judges with ties to the local government. Knowing the town will have to pay if they lose will increase the odds of the town winning.

[@MainMatK]

Yes, I agree it's not just the south or Alabama. And I saw the comment about Missouri. I am a resident of Missouri and I was being questioned by a city cop and I was calm and nonaggressive answering all his questions and he moved around behind me and did a bulldozer like maneuver into the small of my back and I was violently hit and pushed at a quick pace until I ended up on the hood of his cop car. He then stood up and started yelling, "Did you guys see that?", "Did you guys see that?", talking to the other officers that had just arrived on the scene. He then stated, "this guy was resisting arrest". The other two officers replied with "no". He charged me with resisting arrest, which was later dropped in court. He was a punk and if the situation were different, I would easily schooled him on his crooked ways.

[@fredorman2429]

There is always a need for well run, professional policing at the local, county, state and national levels. This is an example of corruption of power as can also be seen in the politicization of justice at the national level. Lord Acton said: Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This type of behavior corrodes public confidence in law enforcement. I was brought up to believe in law enforcement as a friend to the citizenry who should support good law enforcement efforts. This behavior breaks the bonds that hold society together.

[@wilfredvanvalkenburgh2874]

Yes it does. This kind of thing is tantamount to Treason. Not that they intend it that way, but it's an unintended consequence. It's truly sad.

[@alirE2904]

Wow..... that is exactly what my sister told me about the cop at the corner as she reached the stop sign. She saw him, he saw her. She made sure to stop, but still he claim she ran the stop sign. This is odessa texas.

[@pkobalt]

In the state of California a speeding ticket cannot be written from an unmarked car. Which prevents at least some of this chicanery.

[@jblyon2]

I used to live in CT and at one time there was a lot of questionable or downright illegal activity by the state police using unmarked cars, including blatant entrapment.

[@jimmyraythomason1]

In Arkansas there was rapist who impersonated a cop in an unmarked car. He was known as the "blue light rapist". The governor of Alabama banned the use of unmarked LEO cars as a safety precaution. That was changed a few years later and now a large percentage of LE cars are unmarked or only marked on one side.

[@kkal1183]

Why is it that so many issues like this seem to be coming out of the South?

[@benjaminjordan2762]

Forbes did an article on Brookside. I was going to post a screen shot of the article headlines but can't. It warmed my heart to read it. Especially since some of the dirty cops were arrested!

[@almostfm]

Back in the 80s, there was a small town just east of me that had a main street that was the principal way to get to the next town to the east. At one point they lowered the speed on a two-block section from 35 to 25, but somehow forgot to put up the speed limit sign, so they were writing tickets left and right for going 35 or 40 in a 25 mph zone that wasn't marked. And of course, if you fought the ticket, you were guilty, even though there wasn't a sign with the lower limit. This worked for a couple of months until they ticketed a local attorney. He went to court, lost, and then appealed. He had video evidence that the limit wasn't posted, so he won on appeal, and then promptly went to the local papers and TV stations to talk about what happened and what the town was doing. They finally did get a speed limit sign up, but not before getting a lot more tickets thrown out and most people just driving around the town to avoid it. I still add an extra four or five miles to my trip so I don't have to drive through there.

[@johnclair8546]

When I hear about things like that, I also avoid spending any money there. So their filling stations or other businesses lose customers, too.

[@w8what575]

They did that in my hometown and I got pulled over and ticketed for spreading 35 in a 30 zone…when I said but it’s 35 it’s always been 35….the officer yelled at me and got all mocking and mimicked me like I was being a stupid teenager…said Uh no! It’s NEVER been 35! It’s always been 30! Ok? I was blown away at this guys behavior and just said ok if u say so…I grew up here…I know what the speed limit was…idk when u all changed it but u all changed it…took my ticket and left…I went through archived newspapers and found when they had built the McDonald’s in town when I was a kid…I clearly remember it being all countryside out on that side of town and it was lowered from 45 to 35 for the businesses being built out there…i sent a copy to the police chief anonymously but paid the ticket anyway…im waiting to see what happens on the street I just moved onto…there’s no speed limit posted at all on this road and people go 35-45 on it…so we will see what happens…new police chief as well

[@1USAUSA]

@@w8what575 Bunch of disgusting CROOKS... is what I say, my friend...

[@kdavis1492]

Years ago, on a Friday night, I was leaving downtown KCMO on a smaller freeway. Suddenly, traffic was at a standstill and creeping forward. Around a curve, in the center grass, were 2 cars. Probably a rear-ender in the constant stop and go. Finally, just before meeting the freeway junction, was a long uphill. At the top of the hill, traffic was finally starting to move. They were getting past the problem. A dozen motorcycle cops, lined up, the other direction, doing full radar. I mentioned this later to a circuit court judge. He said, it's just about revenue.

[@glintinggold]

Why do people just nod their heads when they hear about cops raising revenue of the backs of the working class and poor black and brown people, increasingly poor white folks as well? "I've never been pulled over," says my blonde sister. Grr. "I've never been pulled over," says my 87 year old blue-eyed father. GRRRRrrrrr.

[@jpkjnn6733]

Good lord.... that is terrifying. That 53 year old woman story sounds like an unbelievable nightmare.

[@derweibhai]

75+% of Nebraska ticket fines go to the schools, the rest are court fees. Law Enforcement gets 0% of any fine money.

[@SaberusTerras]

I remember hearing about a town like this in Ohio years back, and the state supreme court dissolved their township in response to their egregious abuse.

[@toddfranklin63]

That would be New Rome. However, the town of Brice, on the other side of Columbus, continues their similar plan.

[@Growmap]

There are many towns like that. A friend of mine I played racquetball with drove through the speed trap of a little town near where I lived. He got stopped and written up for speeding (he wasn't), following too close (although there were no cars in front of him), no license (even though he handed his license to the local) and no insurance (same, handed the proof). He planned to contest it until he found out that you had to put up $100 per charge to do that. Wisely, as a black man in a very rural county in the 1990s, he knew his odds of winning were slim so he just paid the fines and let it go. And never drove that road again. That small town put all their popular western wear stores out of business by writing tickets to everyone who drove through there that wasn't a local.

[@icewallflatearth1158]

Any police out of control should be met with an immediate military response or heavily armed civilian response teams.

[@sirwilliam3016]

Gorilla warfare

[@silverbackag9790]

@@sirwilliam3016 Guerilla warfare

[@joshm2610]

A La Battle of Athens

[@railrodemike]

Sounds like a police dept in Iowa 30 years ago. The police chief dismissed for mental reasons. One officer fired and one quit. A three man police force.

[@whiskers78753]

Steve just described most of the southern states (i.e. Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, etc.).

[@ncdogg425]

Don't forget South Carolina

[@Yonder27]

Well this certainly would explain why so much hate for cops 😱 I am shocked and appalled that this still happens 🤦🏻‍♂️.

[@Dragonstalon1001]

That County Sheriff needs to send his Deputies out to that Town, and whenever the Town Cops stop a person who has NOT broken a Law, the Deputy should Arrest that Cop....The Sheriff also needs to do an Investigation of the City Cops 'Paperwork' and start charging the 'Agents' with Filing False Police Reports. Either that or the State AG needs to really dig into that Cities Court and Police Department, for RICO and Corruption chanrges!!

[@tekcomputers]

And also when they go out of their jurisdiction to do tickets, the Sheriff's should arrest the officer for politic impersonation.

[@skippylippy547]

In this case the county is just as corrupt as the city. This needs to go to the State level. What astonishes me is everyone seems to know about this corruption and no one does anything about it.

[@kpdvw]

Be sure to show up in an unmarked car and not in Uniform!

[@UncleKennysPlace]

But ... it's _Alabama._ Good old boys, left and right.

[@seanclark8452]

@@skippylippy547 The folks who know, who could do something, also benefit or are immune via political power and don't care.

[@baddog4307]

I, being a commercial driver of vehicles that can have a 2 ton overload legally, have been put through the wringer. I've been stopped for a trailer the DOT occifer didn't think was level. I was run over from behind by a sand frac truck as I was just getting into my truck. He was exceeding the speed limit, ignoring signs to slow down including strips on the pavement to gain his attention. Just as I sat down after checking my rig, I saw a KW fly by me(in the air). He had driven up on my drop deck trailer that had loading ramps that led to about 18 inches off the ground. Just as I was about to reach for my lemon water and put on my seat belt, I saw his tractor at least 5 feet off the ground fly by my right side(off the road) and then his trailer axles hit the back of my loaded tractor, loaded with concrete made underground pieces made to form a waterway getting off the main hiway. I was knocked into the windshield by the back of the daycab tractor I was driving, never having time to get my seat belt on, and slammed into the windshield of my tractor. The driver of the other rig ended up stopped 3//8th of a mile, up against a fence with ruined trailer axles and my trailer was also badly damaged. If he had waited another second to swerve his tractor off my load, I wouldn't be writing this. The impact knock my head so hard my sight was impaired. I had neck injuries and waited for an ambulance since I didn't feel confident to driver further. The DPS(Texas), arrived right after I was loaded on to the ambulance that rode like a bucking bronc and asked me if I had my seat belt on. Obviously, right after shutting the door and being hit, I had no time to belt up. I was issued a ticket for no seat belt, never getting a chance to say why I was not belted. I was in the back of a quarter mile line of stopped traffic and had stopped at least 40 feet from the one ton welding rig and several more since I knew the hill was sharp and anyone that ignored the signs(flashing lights, strips across the road and so on with signs saying stop ahead). The DPS asked me if I had on a seat belt. I replied "No, I had no time to belt up and wouldn't have anyway since seat belts are the worst thing to happen to big rigs since 3 piece wheels." He issued me a ticket I was unable to sign being strapped down on the godawful thing they put in ambulances for you to be tied down. He wrote me a ticket. I have no idea of what was done to the idiot that ran up on my load and barely missed killing me. There is nothing worse than an idiot with a badge who shows up to make life more miserable. My company lawyer got the ticket dropped but tonight, I'll barely go to sleep for 4 or 5 hours and my neck will be killing me. I'm 72 now and began driving a truck when I was 14 with no "at fault" wrecks or tickets during that 3 million miles lifetime of driving just about everything you can think of. Law dogs are a truckers nightmare. They exist only to take your money. I have met few DOT occifers that had any type of understanding of driving a big rig. The state makes laws that are only for producing revenue. That was 6 years ago and I wake every night with my neck killing me. I am Soooo grateful to that DPS occifer since he simply made my life more hell that needed.

[@MOJeepr]

This is why I applauded my state, Missouri, when they passed legislation limiting the percent of a municipalities income that can come from traffic violations (oh, and they also outlawed traffic cameras :) )

[@nietzsche948]

Your state has ONE REMAINING PROBLEM, THE GLOBALIST YEHUDIBASTARD GEORGE SOROS FUNDED SAMBOLETTE KIMBERLY GARNER!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MOJeepr]

@@nietzsche948 meh, I'm 45 minutes from the city, so I can just sit back and laugh

[@nietzsche948]

To REALLY STOP what's going on is to GET RID OF THE CIA, MI6, CSA, BND and all other SPY AGENCIES, and ESPECIALLY THEIR ASSASSIN SPOOKS!!!!!!!! If you put in more patriotic/by the book officials in place, THESE 007 KILLER SPOOKS WITH TAKE THEM OUT!!!!!

[@huallacanes100]

Only the blue State keep the traffic cameras.

[@davidd6626]

Except when a city or county makes an overriding law

[@adamosity7127]

Alma, Texas is modeling after Brookside. How can non residents shut this crap down? Where is the judicial review of the dollar signed eyes of the judge?

[@thecharacterg]

Wait a minute, So they failed to list the officer on the tickets and charges. Meaning that they go in to court, any good defense lawyer could clearly argue that they are not facing their accuser and violating their constitutional rights.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

My understanding is that if you actually show up on the court date and the officer doesn't then you automatically win and you don't have to pay the fine. That's why it's always better to go to court than pay the ticket right away, even for little traffic stuff. Worst case you still pay the fine and you wasted your afternoon but best case no more ticket!

[@ericwsmith3d]

@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor Nope. If you plead not guilty, they will continue it to another day and the relevant cop WILL be there.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

@@ericwsmith3d the only time I went to court to fight a ticket it got dismissed before I even made it through the metal detector.

[@BReal-10EC]

This is a very strange situation. Most police departments put a priority on keeping their officers safe, but this department intentionally puts their officers in unmarked vehicles and uniforms that could be anything and has them accost people on the side of the road at night. I am surprised they haven't had a shootout yet, and if they did that would be an interesting case because the person shooting at the possibly fake cops might actually have a self-defense case. What a circus of stupidity.

[@EvitoCruor]

Frankly the nearest state troopers ought to drive through that highway nightly and once pulled over if threatened end these corrupt criminals. And don't anyone dare dispute that they are infact criminals, color of law extortion racketeering is a crime far more serious than any Brookside fabricate against their victims.

[@josefmaxwell2541]

As someone growing up in Germany and only moving back to the US when I was 26, I was baffled by the amount of small town police stations and stuff. I find it ridiculous that police is not basically county wide (larger cities might have their own separate stations because of high population) and that funding is not done by the state or federal government. Money from tickets should go back in the overall pool with taxes either for the state or federal government and not determine funding of the police station writing the ticket and also not be used for the town/city.

[@adamfurtaw915]

Time for a state investigation. If that doesn't work, make it Federal.

[@autophyte]

That's one of the dangers of having local Police Departments. Here in Australia we only have State Police, who can get moved from town to town. They are not selected from the local population. Judges and Magistrates, similarly. That doesn't stop there from being corrupt cops, but there is more chance of them being uncovered when they are part of a state wide system.

[@hugoh.9694]

This reminds me of the same exact inevitable conflicts of interest that develop when you have Home Owner's Associations. The whole thing begins to reek of corruption in no time.

[@Ryarios]

I think this can happen in any department that residents allow it to happen in. But, yeah, I can see where it would more likely happen in a small struggling town.

[@halharris2317]

That's a good idea I think a couple state police man in local police department s would weed out some of these cops

[@Ryarios]

@@halharris2317 I bet you money that in the problem towns, they would find themselves without backup when they needed it.

[@hugoh.9694]

@@Ryarios If you control the information, you control the population. Unfortunately, more oftem than not small towns are where ignorance THRIVES and every hand in that town is near enough to wash the other. This type of abuse will slowly be exposed in all recesses that it hides. This video is a perfect example of that.

[@AllHailSp00nRiver]

In Florida, Waldo and Starke had this problem and the state eventually had their traffic enforcement power removed because it was so egregious that travel agencies from every state included instructions to avoid them which made traffic worse everywhere. Part of it was that people going to Disney were hit with massive tickets.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Sounds like the FBI needs to be sent in, and the entire police department arrested, along with the judge and mayor. I don't plan on ever going to Alabama, but if I did I wouldn't go within 25 miles of this town.

[@hvachacker586]

Not much to see… could go to the Dollar General!

[@1COMIXMAN]

When I was a teen I lived in san diego late 80s. Big city even by today's standards.there was a cop in my little outlying neighborhood in SD. he loved to harass kids and teens. I watched him detain 2 children 6 and 7 in handcuffs in the back of his car for riding their bikes in thd street beside the sidewalk. There was laws forbidding you to ride your bikes on the sidewalks and there wasn't designated bike lanes so that's what everyone did was like ride near the sidewalks. Hevticketed theirmparents. I knew them because I went to school with the older brother of one of the kids. He fined them 110 dollars . When they called to question and pay the fine they were told by the clerk to either pay it or more money would be added and it could turn into a bigger ticket. So the families paid the 110. But when they went to courthouse to get the papers and pay it they sent them to the person they talked to on the phone because he was the clerk that handled all fine payments. They payed but never gave them the paperwork sayingnit will be delivered inbthe mail as a reciept. They took the ticket for paperwork or thats what was said. so the parents get a reciept for 30 dollars paid. They thoughtnit strange and asked a cop one day he said 30 bucks was the fine. But they no longer had the ticket or proof of paying the 110 each. The bad cop harassed and ticketed lots of youngsters.eventually he got changed to a different precinct. Then a month later he got busted behind a taco bell at night with a 15 year old MALE prostitute doing the nasty and he had an ounce of meth and half ounce of cocaine on his person. Turns out the clerk was his cousin and they both got into some deep shit. The cop went away for some years for drug sales and child molestation plus abuse of power the cousin did a bit of time and lost everything from the fines he owed.karma a bitch.

[@dockmasterted]

Criminals with badges will do what ever they can get away with. And you can't fight it because they have QUALIFIED IMMUNITY to cover there crimes.

[@ferrisr]

Weird, I thought the state police were typically who patrols interstates and major highways. At least that's how it is in the northeast. Which actually makes a lot of sense to me, then you don't have to worry about the rules/accepted behavior suddenly changing for a 1.5 mile stretch of the road in a crappy little town like we're hearing about here (e.g., you can drive 75 in a 65 across the rest of the state).

[@bartdrennon1764]

In Missouri, the town was named "Macks Creek". The city of 270 derived 75% of its entire operating budget from speeding tickets on the state hwy which passed through their city limits. It was notorious because it was on a main feeder highway into the Capitol. The city actually was known nationally for being a speed trap. (Google it). There was no warning and zero tolerance. Finally, they ticketed a state representative going to work who decided "enough is enough". He got a bill passed which limited any city from getting more than 45% of their budget from tickets. It was then amended down to 30% with a provision that violations would lead to loss of municipal court authority for the offenders. Macks Creek had to declare bankruptcy and the citizens voted to disincorporate. A happy ending.

[@willmcgo8288]

Alabama passed a law that restricts towns to using no more than 10% of fines and forfeitures for their budgets. A judge ordered that Mike Jones, the former police chief, cannot be a police officer in Alabama after he tried to impersonate a police officer at a traffic stop, when he was pulled over for speeding and tried to flash his badge to get out of a ticket, after he had resigned in January 2022. The mighty have fallen.

[@kevint1910]

remove the fine revenue from the municipality and you remove the perverse incentives from the police departments make it a law that all fine revenues be placed in a fund and dispersed to vetted charities locally through a lotery system...it would not be perfect but it would be a start

[@tissuepaper9962]

disbursed

[@UncleKennysPlace]

No public money to charities, please.

[@kevint1910]

@@UncleKennysPlace fines are not "public money" or should not be in a morally justifiable system. justice "for profit" is not justice at all.

[@JeffW77]

Similar situation many years ago--mid-80s I think--in Coburg, Oregon. City limits included a small section of Interstate 5, and Coburg Police began ticketing people for speeding in that section. Newspaper article said ticket proceeds were being used to buy (going from memory here) new "Beretta and Heckler & Koch firearms" and "gleaming new BMW and Harley-Davidson motorcycles." Coburg was and probably is a very small town just north of Eugene, Oregon.

[@Smart-Towel-RG-400]

Every police department is out of control

[@thenormalyears]

some of them are just a couple of lazy people grifting government money while not doing much and those sadly are the best fucking cops in america

[@isaacbobjork7053]

You can see that armored thing outside their station on google street view. Totally necessary for them to have...

[@Mayhemcountryliving]

I remember in Ensley Alabama some bad cops were called to a 911 and then several people shot them dead with rifles from a distance this happened a few years ago

[@blacksuite1]

When was this?

[@Mayhemcountryliving]

@@blacksuite1 several years ago, You might have to do a Google search I’m gonna say less than 10 years. I remember it because I used to live there a long time ago

[@Mayhemcountryliving]

@Peter Angles Look at the documentary on Hulu, lol I was wrong though it was three not two.. Sometimes you have to do your own work baby

[@Mayhemcountryliving]

@Peter Angles find it yet petey

[@choccolocco]

@@Mayhemcountryliving , Hey Murray! Good to see you’re still kickin around. I’ve been lax for a year or two as far as watching utoob, are you still making vids?

[@Bob-qr8du]

We need help here in Grafton, ND... The City PD needs a reality check as well as the Corrupt Judges and DA's...

[@gavnonadoroge3092]

Bob, that explains why its called a ton of graft, and not far from robbin mn