This is the original report by investigative reporter John Archibald:
https://www.al.com/news/2022/01/police-in-this-tiny-alabama-...Some notable points collected by a commenter on another site:
- "...just one of the 10 Brookside vehicles is painted with police striping, but nine others bear no emblems..."
- "...officers wear gray uniforms with no Brookside insignias."
- "The names of the officers were not listed on the tickets in secretive Brookside."
- "[the city budget] did not feature a breakout of the police department."
- "Asked in December how many officers were on staff, [the police chief] refused to say, citing “security” concerns..."
- "[The mayor and the police chief] said neither the town nor the police department relies on the revenue officers bring in. In fact, they said in November they didn’t know how that money is spent."
As others have pointed out, this sort of thing is not exactly rare, this is just a particularly egregious example of it. And this is after decades of attempts to 'reform' the police. When people talk about defunding or abolishing the police, they refer to razing systems like this (or parts like this in larger departments) to the ground, rethinking and rebuilding based on the needs of the community.
Some notable points collected by a commenter on another site:
- "...just one of the 10 Brookside vehicles is painted with police striping, but nine others bear no emblems..."
- "...officers wear gray uniforms with no Brookside insignias."
- "The names of the officers were not listed on the tickets in secretive Brookside."
- "[the city budget] did not feature a breakout of the police department."
- "Asked in December how many officers were on staff, [the police chief] refused to say, citing “security” concerns..."
- "[The mayor and the police chief] said neither the town nor the police department relies on the revenue officers bring in. In fact, they said in November they didn’t know how that money is spent."
As others have pointed out, this sort of thing is not exactly rare, this is just a particularly egregious example of it. And this is after decades of attempts to 'reform' the police. When people talk about defunding or abolishing the police, they refer to razing systems like this (or parts like this in larger departments) to the ground, rethinking and rebuilding based on the needs of the community.