Since January, there have not been any criminal charges brought in connection to the Brookside scandal, and traffic tickets are a fraction of what they used to be.
This special report follows up on the January 2022 AL.com investigative report shedding light on Brookside’s police department’s aggressive ticketing and towing practices to raise revenue for the department and the City’s operational budget. Since then, Alabama lawmakers have passed two bills providing that only 10 percent of a municipality’s general operating budget may come from traffic fines and penalties. In addition, the state passed a bill that will hold police officers personally responsible for a Class A misdemeanor and a penalty of up to a year in jail if they are found ticketing outside of their jurisdiction. Brookside’s police department’s interim police chief has required that police vehicles are now clearly marked, and returned military armored vehicles to the state.
You can watch the full video here.