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Making Contact
"Making Contact" is produced by International Media Project, an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1994, committed to investigative journalism, in-depth critical analysis, the promotion of civic participation and the dissemination of educational material. Its core focus is National Radio Project, the team that creates Making Contact.
Just 20 minutes north of Birmingham on Interstate 22, Brookside, Alabama is a working-class town with less than 1,300 residents. From 2018 to 2020, income from traffic fines and forfeitures increased 640%, making up 49% of the towns revenue. In 2019, Brookside saw its first lawsuit that included allegations of racism and police misconduct. It caught national attention for being a predatory speed trap in 2022 and now facing a class-action federal lawsuit. Thank you to our podcast partner, 70 Million, for the story Highway Robbery: How a Small-Town Traffic Trap Became A Legal Black Hole.
