Broadcast: August 11, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.
Listen to this episode: Click here.
In this first episode of the “Pulitzer on the Road” podcast, we head to Brookside, Alabama, where 2023 Local Reporting winners John Archibald and Ashley Remkus revisit their award-winning reporting about police corruption in this small municipality. They’re joined by incumbent Pulitzer Board Co-Chair Neil Brown of The Poynter Institute.
In Brookside (population 1,253), a town just north of Birmingham, meets with local residents (both on the street and at a town hall) to talk about their experiences of being pulled over by local police and being fined hundreds and thousands of dollars, ordeals that culminated in many losing their cars. Archibald points out that “49% of the budget of this town was funded” by this police activity, resulting in a 640% increase in the town’s income from fines and fees over a two-year period.
AL.com’s local investigative reporting uncovered what was happening. Their series ultimately exposed how the police force in Brookside preyed on residents to inflate revenue, coverage that prompted the resignation of the police chief, four new laws, and a state audit.