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One week after Colin Ledbetter nearly died from a gunshot, his father shared news about his progress.

Welcome back to Brookside, Alabama, home of the surprisingly expensive traffic ticket. Home to one (1) Dollar General, nine (9) police officers, two (2) drug dogs (one named "K9 Cash" just in case you had any doubts about the PD's intentions), and one (1) Lt. Governor-ordered state audit. Brookside (pop. 1,253) made national headlines for soaking every passing driver officers could find with excessive fines, fees, vehicle seizures, and inconvenient court dates.

AL.com's investigation showed that under Police Chief Mike Jones (who was hired in 2018), the small town has seen an increase in traffic fines, topping $600,000 in 2020. The department's overachievers patrolled over 114,000 miles in a single year and issued more than 3,000 citations to passing drivers. Chief Mike Jones still had room to complain, despite his department's funding escalating from $79,000 to $524,000 since he took office. The $600,000 fine figure may have seemed abhorrent to anyone outside the suddenly flush Brookside, but Chief Jones said there was room to improve.

The new chief's directives had an immediate effect on officers, who took to the (very few) streets in unmarked cars while wearing unmarked uniforms. The resulting influx of traffic citation defendants pulled officers from the remarkably un-dangerous streets of rural Brookside to perform traffic control for the dozens of out-of-towners driving into Brookside to attend once-a-month court sessions.

The officers also decided the gloves were off and treated alleged moving violators accordingly. According to multiple accounts from Brookside victims, cops made up laws, fabricated charges, and used racist language to address drivers.

As a result of this unexpected national coverage of Chief Mike Jones's Boss Hoggish practices and policies, Chief Jones resigned his position, leaving it to the Brookside metroplex to decide what to do with all the extra cops it had decided to employ while Chief Jones was making it profitable to be a government employee.

Former Chief Jones may be able to duck under the national press radar, but local scrutiny continues, thanks to AL.com. The testimonials continue to pour in, showing Jones and his employees did pretty much everything but shoot someone on Fifth Avenue before being forced to act like real police in the face of the criticism of millions.

Drivers who have had the displeasure of interacting with the Brookside PD aren't happy. And their complaints have made their way to social media services. Apparently, a couple hundred feet of interstate traffic isn't the only thing the Brookside PD has been policing. Officers have been monitoring the internet airwaves to silence complaints and ensure the continued flow of excessive fines and fees.

Michelle Jones made an official complaint to the Alabama Attorney’s General’s office three years ago, arguing that Brookside police stopped her out of jurisdiction, issued a bogus citation and threatened her with more charges after she criticized them on Facebook.

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In 2020, she had explained her case this way to the AG’s office: “The person threatened me with an arrest if I did not take down my Facebook pictures and posts of their police officers, stop sending emails to the local politicians, as well as others, and show them (Brookside police) that I understand law enforcement practices.”

Jones is not alone, as AL.com inadvertently rhymes. Others have come forward to complain about Brookside cops issuing less-than-implicit threats about online criticism. Another driver pulled over by a Brookside officer claimed the cop confiscated her phone, "explaining" that the PD often had drivers try to "stop and record us."

Jones' case is, however, one of the most alarming. After posting to Facebook, she was called by someone who only identified him as "Detective Johnson" of the Brookside Police Department. He demanded she come in and talk to officers at the PD. When she refused, things escalated:

“Detective Johnson had called and asked that I come to the Brookside Police Department to talk to them. After I told him that I would not, he reported that they have two warrants for my arrest. He stated that I issued threats, incited a riot, and slandered the Brookside Police Department in my Facebook posts. He reported that his Police Chief was mad.”

Others who have been pulled over by Brookside officers claim they've been pulled over again -- not for alleged moving violations -- but to be told there would be "consequences" if more negative content was posted to social media.

It's not surprising that a law enforcement agency that has largely blown off the Fourth and Fifth Amendments would treat the First Amendment so cavalierly. About the only thing the Brookside PD hasn't done is demand US military members be quartered by drivers cited for (possibly imaginary) traffic violations.

While it's somewhat satisfying to see Chief Jones flee his position of power after being pinpointed as the person responsible for flagrant abuses of power, it would be far more satisfying to see him run out of town by aggrieved Brookside residents. But, for whatever reason, locals and local officials have nearly nothing to say about three years of exponentially escalating roadside extortion that took place under their noses for three years.

And it was under their noses. The town is incredibly small and residents had to know the budget situation had changed drastically once Chief Jones was hired. Everyone here is culpable. But town officials are the most culpable. They had the power to stop this but they chose to profit from it instead. And for that, they should all be as out of a job as Chief Jones is. The real shame is Mike Jones will probably be able to leverage this bullshit "success" into a better paying job somewhere else in the nation since nothing he did has been found to be illegal. That may change in the future as lawsuits against him and his department move forward, but for far too many cash-strapped communities, a roadside bandit like Chief Jones might just be the hero they need… or at least endorse until it becomes politically inconvenient.

Both eastbound lanes and one westbound lane are closed. Roads remain slick in the St. Louis area Friday morning as crews continue working to treat and plow.

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The post Bankruptcy of failed Missouri factory project nears end after 10 years in court appeared first on Missouri Independent.

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The post Capitol Perspectives: Legislative targeting of education appeared first on Missouri Independent.

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