Ticket-Crazy Police Chief Resigns!

[@anthonybrown2426]

The judge, prosecutor, and other LEO’s need investigating. I’m willing to wager that the chief isn’t the only one in this scheme to be performing illegal things.

[@bryansage4947]

Agreed. Aren't these other people exposed to at least some legal jeopardy? Are their obligations to the community or just the local Police dept??

[@GreenJeep1998]

This resignation makes me wonder if something is coming and he knows it.

[@psyoperator]

Not only that... it was the town council who was getting all the cash. They are not going to want to give up all that money.

[@anthonybrown2426]

@@bryansage4947 the judge might be the mayor. I know of rackets set up in other states that training and such cost a lot of money to stay out of jail and it was family or friends of judges. It should be criminal for such things.

[@gilliganallmighty3]

They should, the governor should open an investigation into the town, and if they are all, or enough are involved, the state should revoked the town charter, and directly manage it.

[@wcraiderevo8078]

His resignation isn't enough. He should be investigated and prosecuted under RICO.

[@africacarey]

I'm so sick of all these public officials getting in trouble and all they do is resign early and there's no real consequences or penalties for them. And they've ruined many lives

[@richardburke454]

I concur RICO is our best option in combating corrupt police and police forces

[@richardburke454]

my definition of corruption is the abuse of power whether for good or bad

[@mercdragons]

It's not him the police department doesn't keep the money the city does. So who is benefiting from the tickets? The mayor and city council.

[@richardburke454]

@@mercdragons that's why a legitimate investigation is needed to see who else is involved and how they benefited from an obvious conspiracy

[@northeasternexped9725]

This screams for Federal intervention. Unmarked cars pulling over people well outside their jurisdiction. Thats not policing, thats racketeering and extortion.

[@MrTruckerf]

Not just tickets, but forfeitures. That is a polite way of saying armed robbery.

[@constitutionprotector3130]

Ordinarily I would agree with you. But, given the incompetence of Comrade Garland, not sure that is a good idea.

[@guesswho343]

@@constitutionprotector3130 Incompetence of both political parties are equal and biased people like yourself empower them by giving support to the lesser of both evils forgetting both are corrupt and only exists to protect their power and not your rights . Be independent my friend and free your mind

[@cult_of_odin]

No. No racketeering and extortion ARE in fact modern policing.

[@fredflintstone8048]

Search and seizure has done little more than turning law enforcement departments into racketeering and extortion organization by it's very nature. No better than government sanctioned pirates.

[@friskywildthing]

That police chief, the mayor, and the city officials and officers involved in this scheme should not be allowed to walk away from this. Decent hard working people were harmed financially by these lowlifes, and there needs to be accountability. To bring justice, and restore the public’s trust in our institutions, the state and/or the feds need to bring racketeering charges against Chief Mike Jones and his cohorts.

[@jorgeposadas1192]

Even if they're resining, they still should be prosecuted. My 2 cents.

[@preachers4135]

Drain the swamp.

[@cyphi474]

Its organized theft. But dont worry, they'll make it "political".

[@cat637d]

Tar and feathers were common in the past, Lets Go Brandon!

[@alcajun619]

You are only getting the medias side of it. Not what was really happening.

[@brettstarks1846]

Just goes to show that these out-of-control authority figures will never police themselves. Public pressure and outrage are the only language they understand.

[@timkinley1779]

It stopped being about what the town government could do for the citizens and more what the citizens could do for the town government.

[@johnmcginnis5201]

That is why freedom requires eternal vigilance.

[@Teelirious]

...and then they'll scream about being "cancelled."

[@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76]

They also understand the gallows. Rather, their replacements understand the gallows.

[@tedkaczynskiamericanhero3916]

@@Daves_Not_Here_Man_76 Too many sheep in the country these days. Violence is the only viable solution at this point. The entire system is corrupted beyond repair and there's going to be a blood bath before anything gets better, and a bloodbath WHEN it gets WORSE. They're already raiding journalists they don't like, now they're working on raiding everybody with a gun.

[@angelsy1975]

According to that article, this has been going on for a while, so the local court officials and the local politicos all knew what the story was and were playing along - at the very least. Don't let the police chief's resignation defray the cost all the rest of them should be paying, too.

[@whiterook8483]

I wonder how much of the $600k was spread around to those other actors you mentioned.

[@kirkyorg7654]

agreed

[@Revkor]

which means we should have courts that move around so this can get caught sooner

[@chuckthebull]

@@whiterook8483 I bet if it was really tallied up,,from all the other citizens they extorted from that figure would grow much larger

[@carmenschumann826]

@@whiterook8483 . . . there must have been much more - from $600K you can't pay 10 cops, cruisers, a riot control vehicle (and a chopper?) . . . they probably were laundering . . .

[@tthealer]

I agree with others here, sounds like we had a complicit Judge, and Mayor, and prosecutor as well. Needs to be an investigation for racketeering charges. State AG needs be involved.

[@angiesmith9196]

Resignation should NOT be an allowable punishment for breaking the law, violating there oath of there office, and violating the Constitution! Criminal charges against these people should not just stop because someone says they won't do it again "resigning!"

[@Mavendow]

But if we don't let them resign, how will they be able to set up a new branch of the brown shirts somewhere else? (sarcasm)

[@pkobalt]

In a lot of places if attorneys give up their bar admission while there's a pending investigation, it's taken as an admission of guilt. The same should apply to police.

[@georgiapatriot4575]

Yeah, and he'll just go work somewhere else, probably doing the same thing again. Make Public Stonings Great Again!

[@LycanWitch]

Not only do the police department needs to be investigated but imo the courts need to be investigated too.. the courts/judges who oversaw these traffic cases should have seen the writing on the wall, see habitual bad tickets, hear over and over defendants telling them about certain officers and false charges that builds a pattern that overtime these judges should be able to recognize and should question. Courts are there to act as checks and balances, yet we see them in instances like this dropping the ball, when it gets to the point that everyone else sees an issue, they should have had first hand experience and seen the issue long before it got to the point everyone else saw an issue, yet they turn a blind eye and choose not to exercise their abilities to do something about it.

[@BillsBayou]

There are no checks and balances in Brookside. It's all collusion; a good-ol-boys situation. Legislatively they make up their own laws. The executive branch enforces (and expands upon) these made up laws. The judicial slams the gavel and holds out their hands to collect their ill-gotten gains. Then they all go home and split the profits. An audit may reveal some very interesting things about Brookside, Alabama.

[@chuckthebull]

They all worked in lock step..this was not one bad apple,,the whole bushel is corrupt and rotten to the core

[@chuckthebull]

@@BillsBayou The problem is this style of grift goes all the way to the top. It's a big club and we ain't in it.

[@joshuagenes]

I am more concerned with bad judges than bad cops as they are the check and balance against them.

[@Mavendow]

@@BillsBayou They're obviously brown shirts

[@christopherlee5584]

Until crooked cops do serious jail time, this crap will continue.

[@jorgeposadas1192]

Oh hell yeah! It just continues with the slap in the wrist.

[@emuhill]

That will never happen. Perhaps it's high time for some vigilante justice. Then perhaps they'll think twice on doing something like this again. Especially if they think they'll end up at the hands of some very pissed off vigilantes wanting to extract some justice from the Just Us. Justice may be blind but it can see in the dark.

[@petert1692]

It is the American way.

[@Kathyskollectables]

Until qualified immunity ends this crap will continue.

[@PhilLesh69]

Usually in these situations it isn't only the police chief. The other corrupt town officials probably urged him to resign hoping to avoid investigators uncovering all the other corruption schemes going on in that town. There's a reason they were drumming up money for the town. I bet everyone has fancy pensions, luxurious perks, fat salaries, they probably all own businesses that overcharge the city for goods and services, etc. It would be unusual if only the town police are corrupt and the rest of city government is somehow magically not corrupt. You get up into the rust belt and thousands of little municipalities are basically corrupt tax siphoning schemes operated by a small group of people who basically run the whole town, county or state. An entire city in the inland empire in California was bankrupted by the officials giving themselves big fat salaries and pensions. It was a big deal about ten years ago. It isn't an isolated thing. It happens everywhere.

[@chuckthebull]

Exactly this is a systemic problem in the whole country now right up to Washington DCeate

[@robertbunch7829]

Bell ca?

[@FrankHeuvelman]

_"It is okay to lie, cheat and steal as long as you don't get caught"_ (GOP moral guideline)

[@carmenschumann826]

. . . of course you are right - the fish always stinks from the head . . .

[@FrankHeuvelman]

@Future Pants *_"Until blood is spilled nothing will change."_* Sad, but true as history has shown over and over again, Mister Pants. People forget. Forget too easily for things to become herd wisdom. Homo Sapiens is smart, but not smart enough to grow as a species. Maybe in a far future Homo Sapiens v2.0 will fill in the gap. .

[@MojoPup]

Had a coworker (a retired cop) get pulled over by one of the Brookside 'cops' on I-22. He knew about the reputation of that town's ticket police. So when the officer came up to his window and he announced he was 'Officer XXX of the Brookside Police Dept', Ed just laughed at him and informed him that he was way out of his jurisdiction...then drove off (at the speed limit). The 'cop' tried to pursue but gave up after a few miles. Would of loved to see that cop's expression.

[@funkyzero]

"They" were in on it and promoting it. The police chief is simply the scapegoat, they want this to go away is all.

[@meMiner]

Exactly that. More "resignations" needed

[@jorgeposadas1192]

I love the fact that in today's society the cops are getting caught more and more.

[@chuckthebull]

@@jorgeposadas1192 too bad they still get to hurt people's lives just to steal money under the protection of government

[@chuckthebull]

@@Gandalf721 I'm thinking it's more like throwing the fight,,he gets the payoff later on.

[@lisagrafton2529]

When a police department goes from 1 full-time employee, the chief of police, to 7-8 full-time officers and several part-time, with a fleet of unmarked vehicles and officers wearing unmarked uniforms, it's pretty obvious something is up!!! I feel bad for the next small town he shows up in to dominate.

[@angelsy1975]

He had to have support of the local public officials to pull all of this off... the police chief generally doesn't write his own budget and then sign off on it to make it happen. The local court(s) had to play along to make the fines stick... the article showed a huge line of people that supposedly happened everyday. Nah, this was a *team* effort.

[@Mavendow]

brown shirts

[@jorgeposadas1192]

@@Mavendow hahahahahahahaha

[@robertheinkel6225]

They were also hiring six more officers, and the town owned an assault vehicle. The judge had to be in on the scam also.

[@Bamapride1985]

Yea and they even got a riot control "tank" when they have nothing in the town except a dollar general.

[@ethanhoward389]

He resigned because im sure the feds and internal affairs are sniffing around him now, and I'm sure they could find something that would be more problematic for the chief than resignation

[@PhilLesh69]

Usually in these situations it isn't only the police chief. The other corrupt town officials probably urged him to resign hoping to avoid investigators uncovering all the other corruption schemes going on in that town. There's a reason they were drumming up money for the town. I bet everyone has fancy pensions, luxurious perks, fat salaries, they probably all own businesses that overcharge the city for goods and services, etc. It would be unusual if only the town police are corrupt and the rest of city government is somehow magically not corrupt. You get up into the rust belt and thousands of little municipalities are basically corrupt tax siphoning schemes operated by a small group of people who basically run the whole town, county or state. An entire city in the inland empire in California was bankrupted by the officials giving themselves big fat salaries and pensions. It was a big deal about ten years ago. It isn't an isolated thing. It happens everywhere.

[@BeaterCar]

Yep he resigns because he wants to keep that pension money

[@mitchfitz4259]

I'm guessing he's buggering farm animals.

[@AshenTechDotCom]

bet he moves someplace offshore with his ill gotten gains

[@rbeck3200tb40]

@@AshenTechDotCom This criminal police chief Mike Jones just got arrested in a very small town on the Florida state line. He was arrested for impersonating a police officer when he was pulled over for speeding. This must be where hes been hiding. Another cop (the only black police officer there) was arrested for rape recently . He was hired by the new black police chief because of his race. Alot of the town employees just quit . A recent audit by thew state government of the town showed that they had missing money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars ,they still had illegally confiscated firearms thrown into lockers that were unlocked in an evidence room that was not locked. Most of the firearms are now missing (theyre probably at the local pawn shops). the town clerk was even robbed taking cash to the bank and never reported this .I know this place well for decades. Trust me this place is run by complete morons Ive known this for years . The previous police chief before Mike Jones named MC Coy was arrested for stealing money from the evidence room and was having an affair with some fat female sherrif deputy about 10 years ago . They dont have a clue what they are doing .

[@brianm.595]

Well...that escalated quickly. Check his bank account. He's probably trying to run off with the money.

[@nerol9929]

The Mayor, the City Clerk, and the town council all benefited and probably encouraged the police to keep bringing that money in. I refuse to believe anything else. How would they not know? They deal with the budgets and the police tickets are usually part of that budget.

[@alabamathunder2891]

That town didn't originally HAVE a budget, according to one of the news articles.

[@Dj.MODÆO]

Nothing like this happens in a small town unless the mayor and city counsel are behind it. Either in support of the chiefs decision, OR they told the chief to do it to begin with. This is why local, county and state elections have so much more impact on people’s lives but unfortunately most people don’t even know who is running in their local elections.

[@spaceracer23]

Add the judge to that list as well.

[@christophero1969]

The whole police department needs to spend a decade in federal prison.

[@Caderic]

Naw, state.

[@lamplighter5545]

I love how the town council pretends they had no knowledge of this. "I'm shocked that there is gambling in this establishment." "Sir here are your winnings."

[@PhilLesh69]

They were giving themselves and their family member co-workers big fat raises, I'm sure.

[@repatch43]

"Couldn't you have chosen ANY other time to show up.... Yes, I'll still take the envelopes stuffed with cash dammit!"

[@georgiapatriot4575]

"I'm shocked. Shocked! Well, not that shocked."

[@bobbygibson3586]

Sounds like the AG needs to clean the whole department and start over. The Judge probably needs to be investigated also.

[@dekoldrick]

I really hate how people in power can just step down to keep from facing any prosecution.

[@suzannehartmann946]

maybe

[@daverobson3084]

And its not just in government. Worked for a company where they thought( no actual evidence as far as anyone could ever tell me) that a regular employee "might have" been skimming money for classes he was teaching for the company. Fired immediately and they attempted legal action. Top level supervisor gets caught committing sexual harassment, stealing ( by using fuel cards to fuel his, and his wife's, private vehicles, against company police MULTIPLE TIMES) and all around was mismanaging funds. Result. He gets to quit. No legal action at all.

[@alakani]

Step down? I bet it turns out to be a step sideways, or maybe he gets a raise at his next job, because everything is awful

[@imbalancedstatus8824]

The Council is Shocked to know there is Gambling going on in their Town.

[@kapdolkim1914]

In the late 80s I was given a ticket in such a town even though I was not speeding. I asked the lawyer at my Uni about it and he said there is nothing you can do. He said the courthouse in that town is a shack on brick and the elected judge doesn't have a high school degree. He said if I try to fight the ticket the judge will just increase the fine. He said the residents go along with it as it subsidizes their property taxes.

[@originalhgc]

Guarandamntee you that the chief, and who knows who else, was pocketing some good portion of the money. There is no way this "chief" was running a program of corrupt policing in terms of intentionally ensnaring innocent people and not also in terms of lapping it up at the trough. ETA: I would also like to know about the judge(s) in the municipal court who heard all these cases. Are there any ramifications there? From the bar assn?

[@TheCaptainmojo1973]

Yep 100% he had co-conspirators, and at least 1 was the municipal judge. The State AG Office and even the DOJ need to have a talk with that dude to see what he gained from the scheme.

[@michaelwaninger3155]

And the prosecutor also. When you see the police doing wrong they only get away with it if the prosecutor and the judge are in on it. And the government (town council and/or mayor) has to be in on it they are in charge of the police.

[@originalhgc]

@@michaelwaninger3155 I think a formal survey of new boats parked in the driveways of everyone connected with the government of this town is in order.

[@PeskyCitizenTX]

Police officers quitting before being fired is quite normal. These officers bounce from agency to agency. Getting fired from a position for cause puts a damper on that so they quit.

[@MrTruckerf]

The ex-chief will not be out of a job long, due to his ability to 'raise money' for his next employer.

[@chuckthebull]

They resign as an act of pretending to fall on their sword in fake shame, it's theater for the masses to pretend something was done. They are already assured they will just get a new position in government if they just play along till it dies down.

[@hotbammamom33]

@@chuckthebull that's scary this man has been bouncing around doing this he needs to be stoped

[@chuckthebull]

@@hotbammamom33 yeah but the point is it's not just this one so called "bad apple" that is the problem this is a systemic problem. There have been cases of police abuse where the officers just go get a job in another town and do the same. My wife's sister husband was a cop,, to listen to them talk and laugh about causing other people suffering turned my stomach.

[@jdrancho1864]

Exactly. By resigning they usually maintain their ability to get another job in law enforcement somewhere else. Remember, once they are charged and convicted of a felony, they are not allowed to carry or posses firearms anymore. Also, a resignation usually leaves any retirement claims intact.

[@seanclark8452]

I note the town counsel's statement if you remove the puffery is content-less. What happens to the victims who unjustly suffered financial harm? I want a statement about that.

[@realburglazofficial2613]

Yeah, I heard “We are aware of the situation and are now going to do damage control”

[@gilliganallmighty3]

How is the process for fighting a charge double the fine for said charge? That is blatantly extortion, and blackmail.

[@gaborvarga7559]

If this has been going on for a while, and with so many people having dashcams, I'm surprised that a couple of KZbinrs didn't get together and did a couple of drive-throughs in that area. All they would have needed was a couple of videos showing that they were driving within legal limits, and getting ticketed anyway. A few videos of that online would have likely ended the policing practice a lot faster.

[@WreckerALeX]

They tend to behave once they see camera. You gotta hide it to catch a predator.

[@chuckthebull]

They will confiscate and erase the edvidance,,thats how corruption works in the abuse of power and authority with their courts in full collusion. The rot goes all the way to the top.

[@roberteltze4850]

@@chuckthebull That's why you livestream it or use some other system that continuously uploads. They can confiscate all they want but a copy of the footage is securely out of their reach.

[@chuckthebull]

@@roberteltze4850 who will implement such a system? The system? They won't because it's all to maintain control... and epstine didn't shut of the cameras when he suicides himself...livestreem won't work if they can turn it off or say it malfunctioned as they always do. Everyone with a smart phone needs to record them too but now what the cops do is block whole streets and even blocks of streets so no one can.

[@John_Ridley]

@Future Pants That won't get the video removed, only demonitized.

[@keithgregory8982]

Sounds like the town council is trying to distance themselves from this story, as if they did not always know exactly what was going on, and they are afraid this is going to drag them down, with the law enforcement. There should be plenty of room in a prison somewhere, for the whole bunch.

[@skavossis5377]

This "Resigning"option needs to ELIMINATED. Police who are found in breech of public trust need to trialed and properly punished. I also believe they should lose their right to a firearm as well.

[@jeffwells641]

Resignation doesn't protect you from prosecution by any means. It's always a way to appease the masses, and in that way hope to avoid prosecution by reducing the will to prosecute. But it's just a social convention. It doesn't legally protect them in any way, and it doesn't protect from lawsuits.

[@mungtor]

@@jeffwells641 No, it doesn't protect them from prosecution and that's good. But often resignation protects their pensions... which is super annoying. If you're resigning in order to not be fired, you should lose any benefits associated with the position. Maybe if that happened more often, there would be a little less of this crap.

[@mikeslater6246]

The resignation does one other thing that I haven't seen mentioned. It protects the employer from a wrongful termination lawsuit in most cases. This way the township doesn't have to worry about legal action by the police chief against them. As far as firearm rights are concerned, there should be no action on that unless the person is convicted of a crime that prohibits him from owning a firearm. There have been lots of allegations. Most seem to be appropriate. But remember, in our country everyone is supposed to be assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[@Johnny.f.face1]

Severely

[@371508129]

Congratulations for your part in bringing this to light. Keep up the good work and stay the hell out of Alabama.

[@tokyosan7906]

And now fire every officer in that town and go back to the 1 or 2 officers they used to have that was sufficient. The mayor should also resign or be impeached. I hope the citizens of that town take the necessary steps to clean house there and those police officers who should be fired never get work again in policing.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

Disband the police and pay for increased coverage by the county sheriff's office.

[@northeasternexped9725]

Send canine kash back to the pound...

[@michaelmagill189]

@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 they're probably just as corrupt as the rest of them. Absolute power.......

[@Rhaspun]

The mayor probably liked the infusion of cash.

[@grahvis]

If the people getting the tickets are out of towners, the citizens of the town are benefiting from the practice.

[@Nickle314]

Yep. Good. Now for repayment to the victims.

[@imbalancedstatus8824]

They are Like Roaches, when you turn on the light, they just scatter seeking darkness again.... He/she is not strong enough to defend his actions, if he thought they were justified

[@hhampton]

Please keep us updated as the story progresses, Steve.

[@mikekolczynski5665]

How can the mayor and town council investigate themselves? They're all in this together. They didn't see the revenue increase to the town? They're all guilty of racketeering.

[@michaelmagill189]

INFERNAL affairs. The police police the police and the rest of the system is above the law. Nobody investigates the things they are being well paid to ignore.

[@josephteller9715]

@@michaelmagill189 there are no Internal Affairs in a small town like this. Unless the State Police are brought in by the state AG there is no investigation.

[@ostlandr]

Standard ops for Government- "We have investigated ourselves, and found no wrongdoing."

[@wayneamerican1708]

That entire police department should be disbanded. Bring in the elected sheriff. It's truly unbelievable that that community put up with that type of corruption and abuse. Shows you what happens when the community is not involved with the local government. The mayor and the city council is also responsible for this ridiculous behavior. A 100% knew what was going on.

[@brokenrecord3095]

presumably the cops weren't ticketing the locals- so of course they'll put up with the corruption and abuse. Because it's directed at out-of-towners, not themselves. And the local citizenry probably got some tail-end benefit from the gravy train- perhaps lower local taxes or something.

[@davidclay3737]

@@brokenrecord3095 Agreed the citizens are indirectly benefiting. Community parks better upkeep of the town etc.

[@timkinley1779]

Same went on in Upstate SC. Three small towns were doing the same thing. Major interstate got zoned into the towns. Unmarked and regular police cruisers every where. 24-hrs a day, 7 days a week. Police from other places would come work the area on their days off for the O/T. Court days were held in a gym because of the amount of people ticketed (100s). Three lines. One for the full price of the ticket with no points, another for half the fine and half the points, another small fine full points. That was the choices. No court, no trials, no patience for your feelings. Pay and leave. They would also give parking tickets because there wasn't enough parking spaces for all of the people to park to pay their fines. They wrote 2.4 tickets per person of the town's population per year.

[@gatesmw50]

WAYNE American Um... Camden New Jersey did exactly that ! The city PD was disbanded and taken over by County Police. So far, not only did public relations improve but crime dropped as well.

[@ostlandr]

Worst part is, looks like 100% of the "extra" revenue was going to grow the police department.

[@danieljones317]

Sounds like Jones is trying to dodge some much needed justice! Can you say, FLIGHT RISK?

[@canadianguy521]

Serious criminal investigation need to be done and that chief , judge and prosecutor should go to jail.

[@georgejoos6797]

Thanks for the update Steve. And thank you for explaining the more wide open questioning available in a civil trial/discovery versus the criminal setting. Interesting information. Hopefully we will see updates in the future on this.

[@dagonming1319]

this is what the internet really should be about. Allowing the PUBLIC to show what the government officials are actually doing.

[@drooplug]

I find it difficult to believe that the council was unaware of what was going on.

[@kirkyorg7654]

when they are caught doing these kind of things they should be prosecuted not allowed to resign like any other citizen they should be investigated with the same vigor they would have going after any regular joe blow because we all know they would pull out all the stops to get a regular person and put them away. the town realized they were going to be on the hook for all the lawsuits and realized backing the chief was a losing proposition but who believes the town didn't know that this was going on ???? mmmm?

[@brianswitzerbbmw]

The rot doesn't stop with the Chief, though. One must assume the mayor and council were content with the police force's activities before all the negative publicity, when all they had to do was sit back and count the money. Somebody prosecuted all these tickets without ever crying foul; someone adjudicated them. His resignation is good news, but it shouldn't be the end of the story.

[@PhilLesh69]

The police department didn't hire the guy who ran the police department. The people who run the town selected that police chief for a reason.

[@azaguero8170]

Man your on a role! You talk about the injustice and in less than a week they fix it!!! Keep up the good work!

[@repatch43]

Injustice? Some might say 'criminal activity' is a more apt description?

[@ghostshadow9046]

That police cheif should not have been allowed to resign, he needed to be FIRED.

[@hugokatz]

Mike Jones ought to be an inmate, not a police chief. This town needs to be made an example, and sued out of existence. The residents who voted for this need to be paying for it for the rest of their lives. Thanks for your work Steve.

[@spadog63]

How many more ticket traps are up and running in the US?

[@osco4311]

All of them

[@spadog63]

@@osco4311 I have lived in towns where in my opinion they don't give out enough tickets.

[@Cohen.the.Worrier]

What about the dirty judge who covered for this renegade police department?

[@edwardcnnell2853]

These police are doing what their town councils approve of. Put the blame where it really belongs.

[@mh9002]

The mayor and council involved need to be removed too!

[@machintelligence]

Amazing how a bit of sunlight sends the cockroaches scurrying.

[@michaelmagill189]

Yeah, but when the light is removed?

[@ttww1590]

Given the actions of the mayor and judge, at best it would seem to be a good start to address the problems but not an end to the issues.

[@gdlonborg]

"Personnel" allows the holder of the info to claim they "Love to share" but they are legally prohibited from doing so. We know that game.

[@nacoran]

I just had an idea... I know there are problems with taxes that are aimed at out of towners... hotel taxes are notoriously high at least partially because it's a chance for the town to tax people who can't vote there. Car sales taxes are charged in your home county specifically so counties can't compete with each other in a race to the lowest car taxes... how about ticket revenue goes to the town where the person lives... that would mean the only time cops would have a purely financial incentive to pull people over would be when it was someone local... who could vote against the council if they abused the system.

[@Robbya10]

I love hearing your point of view of how a court room operates, it's very informative.

[@dwayne7356]

How can the town council not know since they were getting half their budget income from tickets? Good thing that didn't take advantage of asset forfeiture.

[@ravengrey6874]

they did, also the town council definitely knew about this. a 600% increase in budget is VERY hard to miss....accidentally

[@ndifference]

Nice subtle Monty Python reference you slipped in there.

[@paullemay9637]

Steve, please look into his past. He had to resign as a city council member in another small Alabama town. I know of him personally, I was a former employee, not a good person.

[@boneshaker8156]

I read the story and listened to your vlog. What this Town is doing is Disgusting. The State and Federal Investigation Departments should be deeply involved in this nightmare scenario of a Town's abuse of Law. The P.D. Chief, The Police Department, the Mayor, and the Justice System should All be investigated for wrongful imprisonment, and Boot-Jack tactics.

[@coniccinoc]

The city council who clearly supported and promoted this ticket policy are still in place. Once the smoke clears, it will be business as usual.

[@bohemoth1]

OUTSTANDING STEVE! YOU ARE NOW AN OFFICIAL KZbin INFLUNCER. I must say that YOU GOT THE POWER! Your videos has had a very positive impact in the LEGAL FIELD. On behalf of all of your subscribers I want to say THANK YOU STEVE AND A GAZILLION THUMBS UP ALL AROUND 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 KUDOS TO YOU STEVE 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🇵🇷

[@seanm7349]

Everyone involved in this, from the police dog all the way up to the judges, prosecutors, town council, and mayor, should be spending serious time in jail for this.

[@VTwin4Christ]

Great job for bringing this to light. The village or city should just disban their police department and contract it out to the regional sheriff. Problem solved.

[@anilmahabirsingh422]

Sounds like he was asked to leave to make it look like something is being done about the situation to avoid anyone looking more closely at the town's creative funding endeavours

[@kylekyle7386]

This is great. This channel has helped make a change with corrupt police in a small town. This is the first channel i have been watching for maybe about a year and its noticeable to me lately how it can and has made a positive impact on making a better change. I subscribed around same time i first found your channel. Thank you Steve.

[@richardcranium5839]

dont tell me the mayor and council didnt know. they had to. they were complicit

[@tonyb.recently5455]

Watching the videos is like chumming up to the wise guy in the room, where I am quieted, while learning profusely. Thank you sir.

[@Primus54]

Mr. Lehto. Apparently the “judge” at these once a month trials was a local attorney acting as a magistrate. If there was a conspiracy going on, it would not at all surprise me to learn this attorney knew it was going on… or perhaps even profiting from it.

[@juniorjohnson9509]

The whole town council, all of the police officers, and the local judicial system need to be investigated and fired.

[@bryanblake8607]

When you think you have a great idea to write as many tickets as you can for thing people did or didn’t do to get as much money as you can then forget forget that it’s even easier for people to get together and bring your crooked to light, that didn’t go over so well for him. I do believe in having law enforcement and I do believe even them need to be held accountable to for reasons like this.

[@James-vn8zb]

Wasn't the Mayor also saying the police department was doing a great job and he supported the volume of tickets being written? They made the chief the scapegoat.

[@shekharmoona544]

They should all be sued for civil rights violations from the top down. The mayor and city council were always aware of this happening and did nothing. For evil to exist good men just need to sit idly by and do nothing.

[@jsedbe0624]

I am happy to see this update. In the mid to late 90’s, the state of Texas had their own version of Brookside. The town was Lavon. At the time, population was around 300. Police force (if memory serves) was 5 full time officers and at least 10 reserves. During any given year, over $300,000 of citations would be issued. The only redeeming part of it (compared to Brookside) was the citations weren’t for non existent offenses. They just nitpicked people to the Nth degree.

[@miguelsouderado3459]

Light exposes darkness. This is good to hear - I hope Alabama’s governor gets involved in this town’s scheme to tax travelers passing through.

[@theprodigalstranger5259]

Watch out Steve or Ben may rattle your saber! I like the new chyron btw.

[@jasonkent3066]

My guess is the Chief figured out when the spotlight falls on these sorts of things, heads roll. We had one of these towns doing this nearby, they no longer have a police force and the sheriff covers that area. 6 or 8 folks went to jail.

[@Jr-qo4ls]

Please keep us updated on this horrible misuse of governmental authority.

[@SmEiF-]

everyone needs to remind the news that the judges and DA had let this happen. the mayor and council had to know also. they all need investigated by the state or feds

[@fox2102]

I live a few miles from brookside. This whole issue has been building for years. It goes deeper than just the chief of police from what i've heard.

[@lawdelpus]

I feel a class action in the breeze

[@farmerjackgog7086]

Being a foreigner, your laws don’t really effect me, but I love how Mr Lehto explains everything and gives his opinion on events, as in the Brookside story. Which just goes to re-enforce the global perception of your various Law Enforcement Agencies and “small town” forces. “Smokey and the Bandit”, “Convoy” and my personal favourite, “Blues Brothers”! Just saying. I have to admit an addiction to the little ditty at the end of the video. Great work.

[@S.JerseyJim]

You mean to tell me the council members and mayor didn’t know? Yeah ok.

[@stevedouglas5443]

Nice to hear this Steve! They in brookside all need to go. Unfortunately this is going on all over rural America.

[@michaelmagill189]

It's not just rural America. There's bad apples in every barrel including the Federal one

[@timbow50]

Years ago Estilene Texas was like this. The town was like 500 yards long. This trap went on for years. Finally someone with the right power and contacts got the police and the judge charged and stopped this.

[@jonsingle1614]

Are you sure it has changed ?? Last time I drove thru there it seemed the same

[@marcmulhern1736]

Ben just chilling on the handle of the sword, above his right shoulder.

[@David-li4uw]

I just called my buddy who’s a deputy in Jefferson County. He said, and I quote, “That department pays like $11 an hour so they have the biggest pile of shit officers around who were probably ran out of other departments where they should have been fired and banned from law enforcement.”

[@lostinwisconsin4802]

Or the Hand-Cuff's on the WALL !!!

[@technoxtreme178]

The council can fully resolve this by changing their town's name to Corruption, Alabama.

[@elanahammer1076]

Thank you for the story. I had to do this once. Yes I mean represent myself once. I absolutely got 🍀 lucky and asked all the right questions on cross examination. It was not about proving the officer wrong. It was about standing up for myself and the truth. I was found not guilty by a preponderance of evidence. So grateful that I had my dad with me to lean on. I was a nervous wreck after a car wreck… Lol . I recommend just get an attorney it is easier than having nerves of steel and a poker ♥️ face. Good story 🤔❤️🇺🇸

[@poker345611]

It always takes these things to be put on the internet and people making a bunch of calls to get the leaders to change anything. Without people demanding change the leaders think they are doing a great job at all the money being made.

[@bdp-racing]

That sounds a lot like Malvern Arkansas. I got a ticket for going 72 in a 70. Went to court just to get yelled at, fined $270 and threatened with arrest.

[@CaptainQueue]

One of the very reasons behind the Canada trucker strike convoy is law enforcement overzealous ticketing as an intentional means of collecting revenue. Regular people have had enough. Hear that, *law* enforcement.

[@AWIRELINK]

Armada MI (only 476 acres) has been known to do the same thing. Armada police will issue a ticket for driving 1 to 2 miles over the 25 mph speed limit.

[@maddog392]

Hey Steve, Btw I was looking at the map and it appears that I-22 doesn't even run through their jurisdiction. I know you mentioned that some people were being pulled over on the highway and I was was like, wait, huh? The town line doesn't extend to the highway. Are they even writing those tickets legally?

[@jblyon2]

I would really doubt they care whether their tickets are legal

[@MrNoldacre]

Police Jurisdictions in Alabama extend 1.5-3 miles outside city limits depending on the size of the city. I-22 doesn't run through the city limits, but has a tiny portion run through the police jurisdiction.

[@hotbammamom33]

I was told they was part of a drug force and could pull u over..

[@wmwm2194]

In Utah, all law enforcement officers , no matter which facility they are employed by, have statewide jurisdiction. I know several states have similar policies, it may be the same in this situation.

[@emuhill]

@@MrNoldacre Alabama needs to change that law like real fast. As in two years ago fast. They also need to change it to not allow municipal police to do traffic stops on highways unless it passes through town with intersections.

[@christopherdunham2637]

I'm so happy to see a follow-up story to this. Can't wait see the outcome.

[@tedstriker754]

What's important to know is if they are still writing tickets like before, or if his resignation has resulted in a cessation of the excessive ticket writing. Most small towns who've had issues like that were always banned from writing tickets on interstate highways. That was a huge oversight by the state government allowing that to continue. They need to be sued on a state level for allowing that activity.

[@k0smon]

Ted//// Long ago, in Georgia, the governor rescinded the city charter of a town that was acting like this.

[@raymondcarter1137]

Don’t think it’s a good idea to write tickets when Uncle Sam is watching you and asking what your policy is and looking at your cars recording device. Just saying.

[@jasonallen8304]

I live near this place Steve. I have went through and seen all these black suvs. Fortunately I wasn't stopped.

[@stuffbenlikes]

Like the Council had no idea why they were getting so much more money from the police than ever before.... "We had no idea, it was all a surprise to us!"

[@margueritewood7036]

You’re really good at getting these updates out.