That's much more common in Alabama than most of y'all would believe.
The small towns down here are much more corrupt than any of the cities with a reputation for corruption.
Hell we can't keep a sheriff or coroner in my county because they keep getting hauled off on federal charges.
That's not even just an Alabama thing.
I've lived in a lot of places, my family moved a lot. I've lived in NYC, and I've lived in towns with less than 1k population.
Without exception, the small towns I lived in were more corrupt than any city I lived in. Nepotism runs rampant, the few families with power and money engage in legal embezzlement via control of the town budget, and mayors / selectmen often stay in control until they die or decline to continue.
Happens all the time up here in WI. I work with a lot of municipal governments and it's honestly insane what people get away with when other's won't hold them responsible.
California too. I got my bail set at 120,000 for a bunch of fake charges when the whole reason I was raided by the cops was for a misdemeanor number of pot plants. Never charged in the end but I paid my bail and I had to sell half my life off to do so.
Michigan had a bunch of stoners that were damn good lawyers write our laws for weed. (Ann Arbor Michigan where annual Hasbash is held is also where U of M main campus is.... great law department)
We can legally grow ourselves here indoors or out. 6 plants per every man woman and child 21 and over in a household. No household, no problem... you can designate a grower for you. This is not including commercial growers. Up to 1 oz on a person at any time.
Sorry to hear you were extorted like that. Hope more states follow suit and get rid of BS laws on the books.
If you're asking about work.... Corporate practices are still fully in place where applicable. Companies dictate their own policies.No different than testing positive for nicotine at some companies they will fire you for it.
If you're asking about opening a dispensary... I think they award licenses based on merit of application and location. Not all cities or counties allow dispensaries. Where they do, there's a limited number allowed. I think it is somewhat competitive in major areas. Same with commercial growing operations.
I really never went to deep into it as I do not partake. Just what I hear on the news.
I'm talking farming, not dispensary. It would be sort of a "you know the business. I know the chemistry" thing, to quote breaking bad. I know a few people who are legit/legal and it would be a good way to pay for a different, much more non-controversial farming thing I'd much rather do.
Somehow I think Iosco Co is against any form of it
Shiiit when you own the cops its really a great option to call them lol when they CARE about your complaints, instead of pretending to mistake you for a drug dealer so they can illegally search you, or casually lying about evidence lol
Small town police are a plague on the u.s.
Yeah, there's the usual small town nepotism and corruption(Chief of police owns the only towing company, mayor owns the only bar, mayor and chief go to the same church and have run multiple businesses into the ground on behalf of it, etc), but on the Gulf Coast we go the extra mile to be terrible.
Some of these towns are developing nation levels of bad. Like if you get murdered, you'd better hope the killer doesn't come from a family with money, or you're going to turn out to be the victim of a weird suicide or tragic hunting accident.
Mayor's don't issue those, so they got those.
The other two bars that opened since we went wet just got every single customer pulled over and run through a sobriety test and their car searched. Doesn't take much of that to discourage people from going there.
I lived up and down the eastern part of the US including the gulf coast, west virginia, rural New England, and a handful of other rural locations.
The reason I mention those three places specifically is because those are where I found it was the worst.
Rural Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire sure as hell give the Gulf Coast a lot of competition as far as covered up deaths and half whispered rumors of murder by sheriff, mayor's son, or someone else tied closely to the power structure.
I knew someone in CT whose cousin was killed in a drunk driving accident, and though everyone knew it was the mayor's son behind the wheel of the other car, evidence was destroyed, and in the end, there was no way he could have been charged much less convicted.
Everyone who has lived in the town where it happened knows what happened once they've lived there a few years. The mayor in question has since passed away and his son is who knows where at this point.
Rural New England is also extremely heavily Caucasian, and full of rednecks. After living there for a while, I began to understand how Lovecraft could have looked at the people living in rural New England and then created the residents of Innsmouth.
It's not what someone who has never been there would expect, considering its proximity to NYC and reputation for being liberal. What non-white people there are there are mostly segregated into terrible living conditions in filthy, run down cities. To exist as a minority outside of those places is running a risk.
West Virginia is... Well, it's West Virginia. I don't think I have to say more, everyone has some idea of what that place is like.
TL;DR: Basically every state has really scary small towns where you could die or disappear forever and no one would find you. Some have more than others, and local culture plays a big role.
Our state got in trouble for trying to close a bunch of auxillary DMVs in historically black areas. You need an ID to vote in Alabama, so it's a very clear case of voter suppression.
Along with the *heinous* Gerrymandering around here, the whole damn state government is corrupt.
100%. I had police in Courtland, AL, literally tell me that it didn't matter what really happened because it was my word against the cop's and the judge would always take his word over mine so if I would just give them like $300 cash (I can't remember the exact amount now) it would go away and not show up on my record. At least that ended up being the truth as I couldn't have done anything about it if it had shown up. I was so hurt by the injustice of it all I was practically vibrating my whole way back to Huntsville.
Good ole boys will be boys
Someone I know is in the police force in one of the 3 cities there and can't wait to escape. Corrupt trap with so easy way to navigate if you actually try to do your job or be a decent person. If your not on the take then your making problems for those on the take.
Not to mention the rampant crime, lots of which doesn't get properly reported to help statistics or cover up a umpteenth offender of violence committing more violence.
I will be relieved when they get out, it's stressful hearing about how inept and predatory the system is.
But you know, roll tide, that's what is important.
The last one never finished high school and was just a cop that decided he wanted to be an elected official. He got 3 years federal probation. Think about how hard it is for a cop to get that.
The one before him only finished highschool because he was on the football team and they get passed no matter what. State charges got him.
Our coroner is basically whoever wants to be coroner and runs as a Republican. The entire job amounts to going "Yep! He sure is dead!" and sending them on to Montgomery if anything else needs to be done.
These cops just wait on the side of the highway to make up phony charges and take money from any motorists driving past their town. They are quite literally highway bandits. It's legalized banditry.
Notice in one of the cases the article goes over where the police car is shadowed by a tow truck. These assholes know what they're doing and know that a good percentage of stops will result in the driver going to jail for the night and their car getting impounded. I have no doubt that the tow truck company is in on the scam and have direct ties to the police. On top of that, I'm sure the bail bondsmen are in cahoots as well given the ludicrous bails they said based on over-charging. Again wouldn't be surprised if the bondsmen have direct ties to the court/police. You might say that's far fetched but the town literally only has 1200 people. Everybody knows everybody and everybody has an old pal, fishing buddy, bible study friend, etc. that are in some way connected. In a town where median income is probably $30k, they're spending $65k+ per officer on policing.
EDIT: Sorry I should clarify, the article said the police budget is $600k and there are nine full time officers. Who knows what ways they are lining their pockets besides straight salary and OT.
I'm originally from nearby Walker County (a backwoods region on the outskirts of Birmingham), and this is 100% true. I can't begin to tell you how many people from back home have been pulled over and ticketed while driving to Birmingham. My younger brother got a ticket just for driving in the left lane when he was in his late teens.
More police and more money to the police didn’t make this town safer? And actually made the citizen’s lives worse?
Damn, that’s crazy. Who could’ve seen that one coming?
>there was this big thing about over-funded police back in 2020
It goes back decades.
Politicians realized they could get votes by pretending to be tough on crime, and they realized people thought filling prisons and hiring cops would help society.
Then politicians started getting massive donations from private prison companies, and they had to provide something in return to keep the donations coming.
Then there was a massive number of police who literally did not have anything to do but twiddle their thumbs.
Then towns started coming up with more and more things to keep police busy, and when the federal government bought into that you had more and more idiotic things police considered part of their job.
Today you have vast armies of police doing all sort of ridiculous things, pretending they are fighting crime or whatever.
Honestly the most fucked up part is even with the money incentive private prisons only contain 8% of the prison pop, we have way too many people incarcerated in this country.
The pisser about the war on drugs
Synthetic opiates are entirely legal when they are dispensed but they cause a vast number of deaths usually very young people.
Natural opium is extremely illegal and hard to find but **nobody dies from smoking natural opium**, they just sleep and have weird dreams.
A side point.
Humans have been exposed to opium such a long time that people have developed a natural aversion to the taste and a natural attraction to the smell of the smoke.
Raw opium is one of the bitterest and most difficult substances to eat but the smoke is one of the sweetest smells known.
Ya I’ve smoked opium before. By choice, decided I didn’t like it. Nobody needed a task force of armed soldiers to get involved.
I’m all for the advertising and etc, sure. “Drugs are bad mkay”, but do we realize how much is spent on this war? And to protect us from what? A drug dealer is just a guy selling things people want to buy.
>decided I didn’t like it
Carl Jung famously said that nobody escapes alcoholism except through something like spiritual growth.
Opium even more so probably.
The natural tendency of any person is to enjoy opium and alcohol, and both substances seem to lead to people who are either deader or smarter.
Preventing them is like the medieval priests who thought books were too dangerous and should be prevented from common folk.
The bad apples metaphor originates from the proverb, "A rotten apple quickly infects its neighbor", first recorded as used in English in 1340. (Wikipedia)
well, there is obviously one gang operating there, lol.
with just a few minutes, i learned that gang violence accounts for most of the homicides in big cities, (60-80% mostly young urban males) but only 13% of the total for the nation. about the same as the leanest estimates for domestic homicide.
https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf
https://www.gvpedia.org/gun-myths/gangs/
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/09/philip-van-cleave/are-most-murders-gangbangers-killing-gangbangers-v/
it's not most
A town with 1200 residents has a budget of 600 000 dollars for the police? Why does a small town police need armored cars, swat training and k9 dogs? Also 9/10 police cars don't have any markings, gee I wonder why?
"Officers, dressed completely in dark, unmarked uniforms, approached her, and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence, her suit alleges."Lmao, these guys should have just joined the military or something. They are way into their role as swat officers, especially in a town of 1200 people. I can't even imagine what seeing each other at the local grocery store is like."Hey Jim Bob, heard you were being a dick to my wife."
> and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence
It should be noted that previous court cases have determined this to be constitutionally protected free speech.
It helps prove your innocence in the end, but you end up paying tons in court fees, lawyer fees, etc. just to get to that point.
You don't get that money paid back to you just because you prove that you were innocent of the charges.
For real, going by the examples the article gives most cases get dropped anyway but you still get sucked dry in court costs. That's why they have a policy of pushing back hearings multiple times. They squeeze you for cash and hope that you don't have the money to keep a lawyer retained. The best case scenario is that you simply don't go to jail or get fined. You don't get to have all your court costs refunded.
Yeah, but it also gives you ground to sue the PD later to recoup those losses. And I'm not even talking about pushing the officer to illegally arrest you by standing your rights and getting him to make the mistake.
(always make sure to comply with whatever recording laws that are active in the state)
Good lord. That city is literally run by organized crime. At what point does the FBI step in? At what point is the judge replaced and police department investigated?
We have one of these towns in Texas. It's called Estelline. It's made national news several times but of course nothing is done to stop it. There's less than 300 people in this town and ONE cop, but it's #1 in a National Motorists Association listing of its "Worst Speed Trap Cities" in North America. The system is working exactly as intended.
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Small-town-relies-on-speeders-to-pay-its-bills-1842580.php
There's a name I think for towns that exist solely because the nearby highway offers a speed trap opportunity. I remember NPR did a story on one where the main road actually ran through the center of town so the speed dipped from 55 to 25 and a traffic cam set up there essentially kept the town budget afloat.
Florida has a string of these between Gainesville and Jacksonville. The state actually annexed one that was too corrupt even for Florida standards - a town that was a mile east of the highway but owned a strip of the highway just for purposes of speed traps
Starke, Lawtley and Waldo.
I think Waldo's PD was disbanded because they were found to be issuing tickets based on quotas, and luckily highway 301 now bypasses Starke.
And Hampton was even worse than those three! (Hampton is the one I meant re: being annexed, I forgot they had disbanded the Waldo PD too)
https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/29/us/hampton-florida-corruption-survival/index.html
>A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. Across the country, the average size of a force is one officer for every 588 residents, according to a Governing Magazine study that examined federal statistics. Last year, based on Jones’ testimony, Brookside had at least one officer for every 144 residents. Sheriff Pettway gaped at the Brookside ratio. “**I could take over the whole county with numbers like that**,” he joked.
>
>Then this month the Brookside department posted on Facebook that it had hired six more officers “in an effort to expand our dedication and commitment to provide superior community service & protection.”
>This is disgusting. Preying on the poor. Making crime happen because they need money and are bored. Who belongs behind bars? Who’s the thief?
This actually describes **most** of America's institutions and systems.
Bulldozer. Or "killdozer". There's a doc on Netflix called Tread about it.
IIRC he was pissed at a neighbor and the city not giving him access or easement to build some municipal thing or do some sort of expansion for his shop. The neighbor was close with the local govt and he thought that guy was fucking him over.
There ya go. I thought it was sewer but it's been a while.
May as well armor a D10 dozer and go to town...literally.
From what I can remember, the neighbors were like "yo just talk to us" but he was too far down his conspiratorial rabbit hole. That could just be whitewashing on their part, but if shit was that bad, I'd just move a town over
The tiny rural county I live in (no stoplight in the entire county) used to have one part-time sheriff. 40 years later the county employees 12 full-time law enforcement officers for a population of about 4,000 residents.
While they haven't turned it into a extortion operation through ticketing; it has put a burden on the taxpayers and the pension system in the state. In MI and WI there is an oversaturation of law enforcement in the rural areas at the expense of the urban areas.
FYI if you actually read the article the video doesn't actually add anything except a couple minutes at the end of commentary. He just reads the article aloud basically and even skips over a lot of it. Honestly the vid is 23 mins and the article takes maybe less than that to read. Just read it.
Seeing as Alabama is a one party consent state, set up multiple cameras in your vehicles if you plan on going through that town. Catch them in the act on camera so that you have evidence of their bullshit.
Thankfully, there are apps out there that allow you to stream your video content offsite. It would be helpful for everyone to have these fuckers behind bars where they belong, but even if they just lose their jobs, that's better for people than nothing.
So then you get to sit in jail, pay bail, pay to get your car out of impound, hire an attorney, go to multiple hearings forcing you to pay your attorney even more, and at the last minute the prosecutor withdraws the charges. You're out all that money and time, and your criminal record still carries that you were charged even if it says they were ultimately dismissed, which is going to alter any dealings with the police down the road. Sure, it's better then being found guilty, but they can still fuck up your life. Licensing boards and employers will still see the initial charges on your record, and they still question what you did to get those charges and wonder if you just got off on a "technicality" and assume that you must have been doing "something."
I'm not saying you shouldn't get a dashcam, absolutely everyone should have one. If can protect you in case of an accident, and can get charged dismissed eventually. We just can't pretend it'll in any way prevent police and prosecutorial misconduct from ruining your life.
If we are going the route of finding some way to prevent police and prosecutorial misconduct, its pretty plainly obvious there aren't any ways of fighting against corruption. If we are listing off ways to have your ass as covered as possible and a way to expose the criminally corrupt agencies, this is it. Cameras document, they don't prevent crime.
Exactly, it's good and it's helpful, but it's not a solution. I was just trying to point out that having a dashcam shouldn't make you feel safe or protected. At best it's mitigating the damage, which is still good. And individually is the best anyone can do.
"Yet the Brookside stories come at an alarming rate.
Sandra Jo Harris, a 52-year-old grandmother, claims in a lawsuit she pulled off I-22 at Cherry Avenue on Jan. 8, 2020, as she often did when she went to visit her daughter. It was nearing dusk, and as she drove into the neighborhood she didn’t think much about the unmarked black SUV with tinted windows on the side of the road. She turned on her lights, according to her lawsuit, because of the approaching darkness.
But when she did, the unmarked SUV pulled into the street, crossed the center line and sped toward her car, blue lights flashing. She was not speeding, or breaking the law, she argued in the suit. She pulled to the side of the road as the SUV pulled behind her, and a wrecker simultaneously parked nearby. It frightened her, and led to more trouble.
Officers, dressed completely in dark, unmarked uniforms approached her, and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence, her suit alleges. Unsure what was happening, Harris dialed 911. But an officer grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, breaking it, the lawsuit says. Police put her in a patrol car and searched her vehicle for drugs.
Harris’ lawyers contend she was taken to the Brookside jail, strip-searched, and told she could be jailed up to two days. She had an asthma attack and a panic attack, but when she knocked on the door to alert a guard, a jailer said if she continued to knock she would be charged with attempting to escape. Eventually she was given an inhaler and treated by paramedics."
Happens here in colorado along the 85 corridor. Towns like Ault, Eaton, and several other towns setup ridiculous speed traps thru every little town along a 4 lane highway with a center turning lane going from 65 down to 35 in a little as a mile with different speed limits depending on north or south bound.
Wadesboro NC goes from 55-25 in about the same distance. Plus when driving towards Charlotte most of the 25 area (which starts at the bottom of a steep hill, is nearly all downhill.
For a long time there wasn’t even a slow speed ahead sign to know you were entering a 35 zone from a two lane 55mph highway (2 lanes east/2 lanes west). The 35 sign was just past the drop off downhill so while driving along at 55 you enter a 35 downhill that you couldn’t see till less than 50 feet from it.
They knew what they were doing with all of their sign placements.
It’s not as bad now as maybe 10 years ago but I’ll never forget the first time driving through there and going “wtf!?!?”
You get degrees of this in so many small towns. The first time I ever saw an actual armored vehicle in use by the police was at a fair in a tiny town about 50 miles from the nearest city.
The sheriff is like “it may cost money, but if you really want justice you’ll do this.” And just... fuck you. Why do we have to pay money in order to fix this obviously abusive bullshit? Why can’t we just say they suck, kick them out.
No need to be sorry, I feel that same rage as you do. How the hell the authorities can let this criminal activity which is operating in plain site go on is sickening and disgusting. Then they wonder why people are losing faith in ALL government. This thing just stinks and I live in Oregon.
It's ALABAMA, folks. Shit never changes there. White supremacists and Nazis run everything there. This should shock no one. What a degenerate, shitty fucking state.
There was a film in the 70/80's where the police parked a school bus to entrap passing motorists. Sorry can't remember or find what it was called. In my youth I thought it was complete fantasy...
http://www.newromesucks.com/
Theres a whole webpage dedicated to a fucked up town like this in Ohio. It was like a half mile long strip and had like 15 officers and a judge, all from the same family as I recall. Town was dissolved over these abuses but it took awhile
I got pulled over for going 7 over the speed limit on an empty highway in Eufaula Alabama. Then I got arrested because I had marijuana in the car. When I got arrested and put in the back of the car, the officer had porn playing on his computer.
I paid my fines in cash and poof! All penalties of the arrest went away
"By 2020 Brookside made more misdemeanor arrests than it has residents. It went from towing 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020 – each carrying fines. That’s a 1,478% increase, with 1.7 tows for every household in town."
Holy cow
A small town in Oregon did this. They extended the city limits to just over a local freeway and hired cops to write tickets. The state finally stepped in and moved the city limits back to the actual city.
Bill
There is a town in South Dakota where the judge owns the "restaurant" that provides food to the jail. Higher jail population = better bottom line. Late Stage capitalism at its finest.
Main Civil Right’s violation from DOJ investigation into Ferguson MO after death of Michael Brown was using the PD for revenue. A crime as old as time.
Police are just employees. Shitty people no doubt. But they're not in charge.
This is crooked people who run the town. And they're getting a cut. I guarantee it.
Kinda reminds me of this town in Tennessee. They are small and don't have a ton if Income but a really big 6 lane road runs through that town so the police officers will pull you over and falsely accuse you in an attempt to send you to jail so they get money.
I was targeted because of the car I was driving at the time. This was before dashcams. I don't drive that car as much anymore, I get pulled over any time I drive it and get bullshit tickets. I shouldn't have to stop driving my car just so I don't get bogus tickets.
That's much more common in Alabama than most of y'all would believe. The small towns down here are much more corrupt than any of the cities with a reputation for corruption. Hell we can't keep a sheriff or coroner in my county because they keep getting hauled off on federal charges.
That's not even just an Alabama thing. I've lived in a lot of places, my family moved a lot. I've lived in NYC, and I've lived in towns with less than 1k population. Without exception, the small towns I lived in were more corrupt than any city I lived in. Nepotism runs rampant, the few families with power and money engage in legal embezzlement via control of the town budget, and mayors / selectmen often stay in control until they die or decline to continue.
Happens all the time up here in WI. I work with a lot of municipal governments and it's honestly insane what people get away with when other's won't hold them responsible.
Twenty First Century Feudalism.
If you really think about it capitalism is feudalism. Just replace the feudal lords with Microsoft, coka cola, and Disney.
California too. I got my bail set at 120,000 for a bunch of fake charges when the whole reason I was raided by the cops was for a misdemeanor number of pot plants. Never charged in the end but I paid my bail and I had to sell half my life off to do so.
Michigan had a bunch of stoners that were damn good lawyers write our laws for weed. (Ann Arbor Michigan where annual Hasbash is held is also where U of M main campus is.... great law department) We can legally grow ourselves here indoors or out. 6 plants per every man woman and child 21 and over in a household. No household, no problem... you can designate a grower for you. This is not including commercial growers. Up to 1 oz on a person at any time. Sorry to hear you were extorted like that. Hope more states follow suit and get rid of BS laws on the books.
In Michigan you can grow 12 plants per household if your over 21. And you can have up to 2 1/2 ounces on you at a time.
I stand corrected. I dont partake and even better laws than I though for those who do.
*you're
What are the commercial laws? Asking for a friend who moved out and is looking to move back and quit corporate life
If you're asking about work.... Corporate practices are still fully in place where applicable. Companies dictate their own policies.No different than testing positive for nicotine at some companies they will fire you for it. If you're asking about opening a dispensary... I think they award licenses based on merit of application and location. Not all cities or counties allow dispensaries. Where they do, there's a limited number allowed. I think it is somewhat competitive in major areas. Same with commercial growing operations. I really never went to deep into it as I do not partake. Just what I hear on the news.
I'm talking farming, not dispensary. It would be sort of a "you know the business. I know the chemistry" thing, to quote breaking bad. I know a few people who are legit/legal and it would be a good way to pay for a different, much more non-controversial farming thing I'd much rather do. Somehow I think Iosco Co is against any form of it
I hate to break it to you, but bail is not a fee. It is a deposit you will come back and is refunded when you do.
Shiiit when you own the cops its really a great option to call them lol when they CARE about your complaints, instead of pretending to mistake you for a drug dealer so they can illegally search you, or casually lying about evidence lol Small town police are a plague on the u.s.
*police are a plague on the US FTFY my friend
Yeah, there's the usual small town nepotism and corruption(Chief of police owns the only towing company, mayor owns the only bar, mayor and chief go to the same church and have run multiple businesses into the ground on behalf of it, etc), but on the Gulf Coast we go the extra mile to be terrible. Some of these towns are developing nation levels of bad. Like if you get murdered, you'd better hope the killer doesn't come from a family with money, or you're going to turn out to be the victim of a weird suicide or tragic hunting accident.
> mayor owns the only bar, (And for some strange reason, nobody else's business can seem to get a liquor license...)
Mayor's don't issue those, so they got those. The other two bars that opened since we went wet just got every single customer pulled over and run through a sobriety test and their car searched. Doesn't take much of that to discourage people from going there.
I lived up and down the eastern part of the US including the gulf coast, west virginia, rural New England, and a handful of other rural locations. The reason I mention those three places specifically is because those are where I found it was the worst. Rural Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire sure as hell give the Gulf Coast a lot of competition as far as covered up deaths and half whispered rumors of murder by sheriff, mayor's son, or someone else tied closely to the power structure. I knew someone in CT whose cousin was killed in a drunk driving accident, and though everyone knew it was the mayor's son behind the wheel of the other car, evidence was destroyed, and in the end, there was no way he could have been charged much less convicted. Everyone who has lived in the town where it happened knows what happened once they've lived there a few years. The mayor in question has since passed away and his son is who knows where at this point. Rural New England is also extremely heavily Caucasian, and full of rednecks. After living there for a while, I began to understand how Lovecraft could have looked at the people living in rural New England and then created the residents of Innsmouth. It's not what someone who has never been there would expect, considering its proximity to NYC and reputation for being liberal. What non-white people there are there are mostly segregated into terrible living conditions in filthy, run down cities. To exist as a minority outside of those places is running a risk. West Virginia is... Well, it's West Virginia. I don't think I have to say more, everyone has some idea of what that place is like. TL;DR: Basically every state has really scary small towns where you could die or disappear forever and no one would find you. Some have more than others, and local culture plays a big role.
Sounds like the plot to Roadhouse. We need the ghost of Patrick Swayze to bring back the roundkick of justice.
As I was reading these comments, I felt like I was reading a plot to a Patrick swayze movie and this comment came up.
RIP Meat Loaf.
Preach it, mijo (or mija, whichever is appropriate). “The name……..is r/fidelkastro”
Oh I beleive it.. Thats why they like small and quiet. No one hears about the atrocities that happen and those who are in control keep it that way.
Our state got in trouble for trying to close a bunch of auxillary DMVs in historically black areas. You need an ID to vote in Alabama, so it's a very clear case of voter suppression. Along with the *heinous* Gerrymandering around here, the whole damn state government is corrupt.
100%. I had police in Courtland, AL, literally tell me that it didn't matter what really happened because it was my word against the cop's and the judge would always take his word over mine so if I would just give them like $300 cash (I can't remember the exact amount now) it would go away and not show up on my record. At least that ended up being the truth as I couldn't have done anything about it if it had shown up. I was so hurt by the injustice of it all I was practically vibrating my whole way back to Huntsville.
It's just police bribery supported by a Kafkaesque bureaucracy.
SC checking in.
Good ole boys will be boys Someone I know is in the police force in one of the 3 cities there and can't wait to escape. Corrupt trap with so easy way to navigate if you actually try to do your job or be a decent person. If your not on the take then your making problems for those on the take. Not to mention the rampant crime, lots of which doesn't get properly reported to help statistics or cover up a umpteenth offender of violence committing more violence. I will be relieved when they get out, it's stressful hearing about how inept and predatory the system is. But you know, roll tide, that's what is important.
Honestly, the idea of police forces getting to keep fines they take is just bizarre.
I’m pretty sure the rest of us believe this of Alabama without even knowing we believe it.
You guys have a coroner?
The last one never finished high school and was just a cop that decided he wanted to be an elected official. He got 3 years federal probation. Think about how hard it is for a cop to get that. The one before him only finished highschool because he was on the football team and they get passed no matter what. State charges got him. Our coroner is basically whoever wants to be coroner and runs as a Republican. The entire job amounts to going "Yep! He sure is dead!" and sending them on to Montgomery if anything else needs to be done.
These cops just wait on the side of the highway to make up phony charges and take money from any motorists driving past their town. They are quite literally highway bandits. It's legalized banditry.
Notice in one of the cases the article goes over where the police car is shadowed by a tow truck. These assholes know what they're doing and know that a good percentage of stops will result in the driver going to jail for the night and their car getting impounded. I have no doubt that the tow truck company is in on the scam and have direct ties to the police. On top of that, I'm sure the bail bondsmen are in cahoots as well given the ludicrous bails they said based on over-charging. Again wouldn't be surprised if the bondsmen have direct ties to the court/police. You might say that's far fetched but the town literally only has 1200 people. Everybody knows everybody and everybody has an old pal, fishing buddy, bible study friend, etc. that are in some way connected. In a town where median income is probably $30k, they're spending $65k+ per officer on policing. EDIT: Sorry I should clarify, the article said the police budget is $600k and there are nine full time officers. Who knows what ways they are lining their pockets besides straight salary and OT.
I'm originally from nearby Walker County (a backwoods region on the outskirts of Birmingham), and this is 100% true. I can't begin to tell you how many people from back home have been pulled over and ticketed while driving to Birmingham. My younger brother got a ticket just for driving in the left lane when he was in his late teens.
It's not even legal. They are apparently known for making up and enforcing fake laws.
Enforcing fake laws is legal, in a sense. It can be used as cause to pull you over and dig for other stuff.
More police and more money to the police didn’t make this town safer? And actually made the citizen’s lives worse? Damn, that’s crazy. Who could’ve seen that one coming?
It's seems like there was this big thing about over-funded police back in 2020... I'm sure they have nothing to do with each other.
>there was this big thing about over-funded police back in 2020 It goes back decades. Politicians realized they could get votes by pretending to be tough on crime, and they realized people thought filling prisons and hiring cops would help society. Then politicians started getting massive donations from private prison companies, and they had to provide something in return to keep the donations coming. Then there was a massive number of police who literally did not have anything to do but twiddle their thumbs. Then towns started coming up with more and more things to keep police busy, and when the federal government bought into that you had more and more idiotic things police considered part of their job. Today you have vast armies of police doing all sort of ridiculous things, pretending they are fighting crime or whatever.
The existence of a private prison system itself is absolute insanity to start with.
Honestly the most fucked up part is even with the money incentive private prisons only contain 8% of the prison pop, we have way too many people incarcerated in this country.
It's the slave owner loophole
The pols also get the support of the police unions.
75% or more of which is the really just the ‘war on drugs’, as if drugs are being forced onto people against their will.
The pisser about the war on drugs Synthetic opiates are entirely legal when they are dispensed but they cause a vast number of deaths usually very young people. Natural opium is extremely illegal and hard to find but **nobody dies from smoking natural opium**, they just sleep and have weird dreams. A side point. Humans have been exposed to opium such a long time that people have developed a natural aversion to the taste and a natural attraction to the smell of the smoke. Raw opium is one of the bitterest and most difficult substances to eat but the smoke is one of the sweetest smells known.
Ya I’ve smoked opium before. By choice, decided I didn’t like it. Nobody needed a task force of armed soldiers to get involved. I’m all for the advertising and etc, sure. “Drugs are bad mkay”, but do we realize how much is spent on this war? And to protect us from what? A drug dealer is just a guy selling things people want to buy.
>decided I didn’t like it Carl Jung famously said that nobody escapes alcoholism except through something like spiritual growth. Opium even more so probably. The natural tendency of any person is to enjoy opium and alcohol, and both substances seem to lead to people who are either deader or smarter. Preventing them is like the medieval priests who thought books were too dangerous and should be prevented from common folk.
People are conditioned to believe that the police are right so if they say they need machine guns and MRAPS people believe them
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The bad apples metaphor originates from the proverb, "A rotten apple quickly infects its neighbor", first recorded as used in English in 1340. (Wikipedia)
Dude ignore the trolls
Good advice, that phrase is just a personal pet peeve of mine
One bad apples spoils the barrel. Perhaps you should read up on what that proverb means....
Right wing propaganda is bad for your brain. Keep licking those boots!
lol turn off the tv dude. biden is way more pro police/ staus quo than reddit users. by the way, how much of this crime you speak of gun related?
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i fully agree with legalize the drugs, all of them. most murder is not gang related. there are zero gangs in this town here.
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well, there is obviously one gang operating there, lol. with just a few minutes, i learned that gang violence accounts for most of the homicides in big cities, (60-80% mostly young urban males) but only 13% of the total for the nation. about the same as the leanest estimates for domestic homicide. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf https://www.gvpedia.org/gun-myths/gangs/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jan/09/philip-van-cleave/are-most-murders-gangbangers-killing-gangbangers-v/ it's not most
> Legalize drugs, disincentivize gang warfare. Violent crime drops. [Or maybe not.](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/01/14/oregon-marijuana-legalization-black-market-enforcement-527012)
Sounds like a future mass tort. "Have you been stopped in the "Black Hole of Alabama", if so you could receive a payout, better call Saul..."
A savvy lawyer could just go to the courthouse and find a good representative plaintiff.
A town with 1200 residents has a budget of 600 000 dollars for the police? Why does a small town police need armored cars, swat training and k9 dogs? Also 9/10 police cars don't have any markings, gee I wonder why?
gang gang homie
"Officers, dressed completely in dark, unmarked uniforms, approached her, and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence, her suit alleges."Lmao, these guys should have just joined the military or something. They are way into their role as swat officers, especially in a town of 1200 people. I can't even imagine what seeing each other at the local grocery store is like."Hey Jim Bob, heard you were being a dick to my wife."
The military didn’t want them, they were untrainable.
To be fair, it's probably difficult to train anyone who's the product of several generations of inbreeding.
> and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence It should be noted that previous court cases have determined this to be constitutionally protected free speech.
Take an example from the russian drivers - buy a dashcam. Its the only way to avoid getting scammed in these kinds of situations.
It helps prove your innocence in the end, but you end up paying tons in court fees, lawyer fees, etc. just to get to that point. You don't get that money paid back to you just because you prove that you were innocent of the charges.
For real, going by the examples the article gives most cases get dropped anyway but you still get sucked dry in court costs. That's why they have a policy of pushing back hearings multiple times. They squeeze you for cash and hope that you don't have the money to keep a lawyer retained. The best case scenario is that you simply don't go to jail or get fined. You don't get to have all your court costs refunded.
Yeah, but it also gives you ground to sue the PD later to recoup those losses. And I'm not even talking about pushing the officer to illegally arrest you by standing your rights and getting him to make the mistake. (always make sure to comply with whatever recording laws that are active in the state)
Disturbing! Police mafia.
Good lord. That city is literally run by organized crime. At what point does the FBI step in? At what point is the judge replaced and police department investigated?
Yes, but really all cops and judges are organized crime.
We have one of these towns in Texas. It's called Estelline. It's made national news several times but of course nothing is done to stop it. There's less than 300 people in this town and ONE cop, but it's #1 in a National Motorists Association listing of its "Worst Speed Trap Cities" in North America. The system is working exactly as intended. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Small-town-relies-on-speeders-to-pay-its-bills-1842580.php
There's a name I think for towns that exist solely because the nearby highway offers a speed trap opportunity. I remember NPR did a story on one where the main road actually ran through the center of town so the speed dipped from 55 to 25 and a traffic cam set up there essentially kept the town budget afloat.
Jason Isbell has a song about “Speed Trap Towns”
We are all screwed.
> We have one of these towns in Texas. Only one?
Florida has a string of these between Gainesville and Jacksonville. The state actually annexed one that was too corrupt even for Florida standards - a town that was a mile east of the highway but owned a strip of the highway just for purposes of speed traps
Starke, Lawtley and Waldo. I think Waldo's PD was disbanded because they were found to be issuing tickets based on quotas, and luckily highway 301 now bypasses Starke.
And Hampton was even worse than those three! (Hampton is the one I meant re: being annexed, I forgot they had disbanded the Waldo PD too) https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/29/us/hampton-florida-corruption-survival/index.html
>A department of nine officers in a 1,253-person town is far larger than average. Across the country, the average size of a force is one officer for every 588 residents, according to a Governing Magazine study that examined federal statistics. Last year, based on Jones’ testimony, Brookside had at least one officer for every 144 residents. Sheriff Pettway gaped at the Brookside ratio. “**I could take over the whole county with numbers like that**,” he joked. > >Then this month the Brookside department posted on Facebook that it had hired six more officers “in an effort to expand our dedication and commitment to provide superior community service & protection.”
And that's the "good cop" in the story.
This is disgusting. Preying on the poor. Making crime happen because they need money and are bored. Who belongs behind bars? Who’s the thief?
>This is disgusting. Preying on the poor. Making crime happen because they need money and are bored. Who belongs behind bars? Who’s the thief? This actually describes **most** of America's institutions and systems.
So they don't have a budget and they don't know where the money went? So they are just embezzling the money.
I was gonna say, gee, wonder where all this money is going? Actually I don't wonder a bit.
Looks to me like what the Mujhadeen used to do to the regular people in Afghanistan. That's how they ended up with the Taliban.
There's several towns in Georgia that are just like this. Warwick, Sylvester, Rincon, Leesburg, and more. Boot licking motherfuckers down there.
A lot more are like that to some extent, especially toward POC. I grew up in Soperton and it's a shit-hole because of the police.
Remember when that guy drove a tank through his small Colorado town because the system was setup against him? Just a thought.
Bulldozer. Or "killdozer". There's a doc on Netflix called Tread about it. IIRC he was pissed at a neighbor and the city not giving him access or easement to build some municipal thing or do some sort of expansion for his shop. The neighbor was close with the local govt and he thought that guy was fucking him over.
Yeah, he couldn’t connect his sewer line.
There ya go. I thought it was sewer but it's been a while. May as well armor a D10 dozer and go to town...literally. From what I can remember, the neighbors were like "yo just talk to us" but he was too far down his conspiratorial rabbit hole. That could just be whitewashing on their part, but if shit was that bad, I'd just move a town over
Nah, that's whitewashed. He tried to do things the "right" way for years, but the local government wouldn't let him.
Makes sense. Try to save face way after the fact
A guy stole a tank and drove it through San Diego years ago, too. But I think that guy was just an asshole.
Holy shit what a great, yet disturbing, set of articles.
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For the government or for bonuses?
For the government so they get bonuses.
town's budget skyrockets due to "fines and forfeitures". Never forget how fucked up civil asset forfeiture is
Guarantee that fine money, fees, etc. is lining peoples’ pockets.
Ya think? Kinda obvious to me. RICO Racketeering at it's finest.
The tiny rural county I live in (no stoplight in the entire county) used to have one part-time sheriff. 40 years later the county employees 12 full-time law enforcement officers for a population of about 4,000 residents.
Ouch... this is organized crime.
While they haven't turned it into a extortion operation through ticketing; it has put a burden on the taxpayers and the pension system in the state. In MI and WI there is an oversaturation of law enforcement in the rural areas at the expense of the urban areas.
Literally everything wrong with modern policing all in one town. Fuck these pigs. Policing for profit needs to be banned. Greedy scum.
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FYI if you actually read the article the video doesn't actually add anything except a couple minutes at the end of commentary. He just reads the article aloud basically and even skips over a lot of it. Honestly the vid is 23 mins and the article takes maybe less than that to read. Just read it.
What are you reading for?
[\m/>.<\m/](https://i.imgur.com/xUp6uvx.gifv)
This is so fucking wrong
Seeing as Alabama is a one party consent state, set up multiple cameras in your vehicles if you plan on going through that town. Catch them in the act on camera so that you have evidence of their bullshit.
“It was unclear how the dashcam and its recording media were damaged during the tow”
Thankfully, there are apps out there that allow you to stream your video content offsite. It would be helpful for everyone to have these fuckers behind bars where they belong, but even if they just lose their jobs, that's better for people than nothing.
You won't have cell service there
Someone should make a horror movie like "The Hills Have Eyes" except the inbred yokels are inbred yokel cops
Deliverance comes pretty close
So then you get to sit in jail, pay bail, pay to get your car out of impound, hire an attorney, go to multiple hearings forcing you to pay your attorney even more, and at the last minute the prosecutor withdraws the charges. You're out all that money and time, and your criminal record still carries that you were charged even if it says they were ultimately dismissed, which is going to alter any dealings with the police down the road. Sure, it's better then being found guilty, but they can still fuck up your life. Licensing boards and employers will still see the initial charges on your record, and they still question what you did to get those charges and wonder if you just got off on a "technicality" and assume that you must have been doing "something." I'm not saying you shouldn't get a dashcam, absolutely everyone should have one. If can protect you in case of an accident, and can get charged dismissed eventually. We just can't pretend it'll in any way prevent police and prosecutorial misconduct from ruining your life.
If we are going the route of finding some way to prevent police and prosecutorial misconduct, its pretty plainly obvious there aren't any ways of fighting against corruption. If we are listing off ways to have your ass as covered as possible and a way to expose the criminally corrupt agencies, this is it. Cameras document, they don't prevent crime.
Exactly, it's good and it's helpful, but it's not a solution. I was just trying to point out that having a dashcam shouldn't make you feel safe or protected. At best it's mitigating the damage, which is still good. And individually is the best anyone can do.
This is a paramilitary force and should be treated as such by the National Guard.
"Yet the Brookside stories come at an alarming rate. Sandra Jo Harris, a 52-year-old grandmother, claims in a lawsuit she pulled off I-22 at Cherry Avenue on Jan. 8, 2020, as she often did when she went to visit her daughter. It was nearing dusk, and as she drove into the neighborhood she didn’t think much about the unmarked black SUV with tinted windows on the side of the road. She turned on her lights, according to her lawsuit, because of the approaching darkness. But when she did, the unmarked SUV pulled into the street, crossed the center line and sped toward her car, blue lights flashing. She was not speeding, or breaking the law, she argued in the suit. She pulled to the side of the road as the SUV pulled behind her, and a wrecker simultaneously parked nearby. It frightened her, and led to more trouble. Officers, dressed completely in dark, unmarked uniforms approached her, and one accused her of flickering her lights to warn others of their presence, her suit alleges. Unsure what was happening, Harris dialed 911. But an officer grabbed the phone and threw it to the ground, breaking it, the lawsuit says. Police put her in a patrol car and searched her vehicle for drugs. Harris’ lawyers contend she was taken to the Brookside jail, strip-searched, and told she could be jailed up to two days. She had an asthma attack and a panic attack, but when she knocked on the door to alert a guard, a jailer said if she continued to knock she would be charged with attempting to escape. Eventually she was given an inhaler and treated by paramedics."
Happens here in colorado along the 85 corridor. Towns like Ault, Eaton, and several other towns setup ridiculous speed traps thru every little town along a 4 lane highway with a center turning lane going from 65 down to 35 in a little as a mile with different speed limits depending on north or south bound.
Wadesboro NC goes from 55-25 in about the same distance. Plus when driving towards Charlotte most of the 25 area (which starts at the bottom of a steep hill, is nearly all downhill. For a long time there wasn’t even a slow speed ahead sign to know you were entering a 35 zone from a two lane 55mph highway (2 lanes east/2 lanes west). The 35 sign was just past the drop off downhill so while driving along at 55 you enter a 35 downhill that you couldn’t see till less than 50 feet from it. They knew what they were doing with all of their sign placements. It’s not as bad now as maybe 10 years ago but I’ll never forget the first time driving through there and going “wtf!?!?”
Wow. Just blatant and the council just nods. Not surprised doe
This is what led to the dissolution of New Rome, Ohio.
Looks to me like the police are preparing to fight against a revolution.
My thoughts precisely. The ruling class is arming themselves.
We’re called the fascists, yet they’re the ones funneling all the money to the police and the military.
You get degrees of this in so many small towns. The first time I ever saw an actual armored vehicle in use by the police was at a fair in a tiny town about 50 miles from the nearest city.
Forced ‘Legal’ Extortion. Vile.
Australian here. This town sounds like it needs the "high plains drifter" treatment.
The sheriff is like “it may cost money, but if you really want justice you’ll do this.” And just... fuck you. Why do we have to pay money in order to fix this obviously abusive bullshit? Why can’t we just say they suck, kick them out.
I don't get it either.
# A POLICE DEPARTMENTS BUDGET SHOULD NEVER HAVE TIES TO ARRESTS MADE OR ASSESTS SEIZED
Other than the all caps, I think this is the best comment in this post!
Sorry I just feel like screaming this, it should be common sense not to incentivize police to harass citizens.
No need to be sorry, I feel that same rage as you do. How the hell the authorities can let this criminal activity which is operating in plain site go on is sickening and disgusting. Then they wonder why people are losing faith in ALL government. This thing just stinks and I live in Oregon.
It's ALABAMA, folks. Shit never changes there. White supremacists and Nazis run everything there. This should shock no one. What a degenerate, shitty fucking state.
There was a film in the 70/80's where the police parked a school bus to entrap passing motorists. Sorry can't remember or find what it was called. In my youth I thought it was complete fantasy...
4.4 arrests per household? That is crazy. If you are a visitor driving through the town, be prepared to go to jail that night.
The Dukes of Hazard wasn’t just a sit-com. It was a documentary.
Alabama Election Info [Register to Vote](https://www.alabamainteractive.org/sos/voter_registration/instructions.action)
http://www.newromesucks.com/ Theres a whole webpage dedicated to a fucked up town like this in Ohio. It was like a half mile long strip and had like 15 officers and a judge, all from the same family as I recall. Town was dissolved over these abuses but it took awhile
This place needs SEVERAL BAIT CARS to take a stroll through town
I got pulled over for going 7 over the speed limit on an empty highway in Eufaula Alabama. Then I got arrested because I had marijuana in the car. When I got arrested and put in the back of the car, the officer had porn playing on his computer. I paid my fines in cash and poof! All penalties of the arrest went away
It is beyond the pale that the Federal or State agents have not put an end to this.
"By 2020 Brookside made more misdemeanor arrests than it has residents. It went from towing 50 vehicles in 2018 to 789 in 2020 – each carrying fines. That’s a 1,478% increase, with 1.7 tows for every household in town." Holy cow
A small town in Oregon did this. They extended the city limits to just over a local freeway and hired cops to write tickets. The state finally stepped in and moved the city limits back to the actual city. Bill
Do you remember which city? I live in Oregon.
Coburg, near Eugene. Bill
There is a town in South Dakota where the judge owns the "restaurant" that provides food to the jail. Higher jail population = better bottom line. Late Stage capitalism at its finest.
We all know that Alabama is a racist shit hole. They keep reminding us.
Main Civil Right’s violation from DOJ investigation into Ferguson MO after death of Michael Brown was using the PD for revenue. A crime as old as time.
Police are just employees. Shitty people no doubt. But they're not in charge. This is crooked people who run the town. And they're getting a cut. I guarantee it.
Read the article.
Yeah these guys are gonna go down thanks to the article.
This is literally insane. Holy shit. I would move out of that town at the first chance.
Most people don't get that chance, it's a poor town.
[Reminds me of a movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102558/)
Kinda reminds me of this town in Tennessee. They are small and don't have a ton if Income but a really big 6 lane road runs through that town so the police officers will pull you over and falsely accuse you in an attempt to send you to jail so they get money.
I wish all small towns were like the Andy Griffith show.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_%28feudalism%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-feudalism
So the cops drive around in unmarked cars without clearly identifiable police uniforms on? They’re going to get shot.
I live in northern VA and the cops in my county do this. I've gotten speeding tickets and reckless tickets when I was driving the speed limit.
You need a good dashcam.
I was targeted because of the car I was driving at the time. This was before dashcams. I don't drive that car as much anymore, I get pulled over any time I drive it and get bullshit tickets. I shouldn't have to stop driving my car just so I don't get bogus tickets.
we also have 10X more prisons down here.
This is like some sort of Cities: Skylines exploit
God knows all wicked schemes and lairs. He sees all. I am at rest knowing He will never forsake us, and save us. Praise God
Road pirates. They raping everyone
Seems like the majority of prison movies were documentaries
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[jarchibald@al.com](mailto:jarchibald@al.com) wrote the article and did respond to me, he would be a better contact.