January 1, Police Chief Resigns After Traffic Trap Report

The police chief of Brookside, Alabama, resigned after a report found that more than half of the city’s budget came from traffic traps.

Mike Jones resigned after an AL.com investigation found that more than half of the town’s municipal revenue for 2020 came from fines and forfeitures linked to ticketing people for minor and questionable offenses, which is a concept known as policing for profit.

“This will confirm that earlier today, Mike Jones resigned as the Police Chief for the Town of Brookside,” town clerk Debbie Keedy said in a statement.

“Since this involves a personnel matter, the Town has no further comment.”

Brookside is a small town with 1,253 residents. The money from fines and forfeitures reportedly increased 640 percent in two years.

AL.com’s report found that in 2020, Brookside police made more misdemeanor arrests than it has residents.

“Brookside is a poster child for policing for profit,” said Carla Crowder, the director of the nonprofit Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice.

“We are not safer because of it.”

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Brookside Police Chief Mike Jones resigns after AL.com report on traffic trap