The police chief that defended a small Alabama town's rapacious fining of drivers has resigned following media coverage and outraged calls for action from both Democratic and Republican state officials.
The tiny town of Brookside, with a population of less than 1,500, became a national news story last week when John Archibald of the Birmingham News reported that its mayor and Police Chief Mike Jones had embarked on a system of ramping up fines and forfeitures to bankroll its government. Archibald calculated that the town's revenue nearly tripled across four years entirely from these fines, targeting primarily anybody passing through or nearby Brookside on Interstate 22.
