Former Alabama Cop Receives $25 Fine and is Permanently Barred from Working as a Law Enforcement Officer in the State

Last week, a former Alabama police chief entered a guilty plea to the charge of impersonating a public servant during a traffic stop in Covington County in 2022. As a result of his guilty plea, he was ordered to relinquish his police certification, which will now prevent him from ever working as a law enforcement officer in the state again.

It was Michael Ryan Jones. in January 2021, Michael Ryan Jones resigned from his position as the police chief of Brookside, Alabama, after allegations of the small town’s tough policing attracted the attention of local and state lawmakers. Prior to his resignation, he had served in that capacity.

After a few months had passed, in April of 2022, a deputy from the Covington County Sheriff’s Department pulled Ryan over for speeding.

According to local officials, Jones used his police credentials to identify himself as Brookside’s police chief in an effort to avoid receiving a traffic citation. This was despite the fact that Jones was no longer an officer with the Brookside Police Department at the time.

Jones handed himself in to the Covington County Jail a few days later, when he was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer.

Jones made an appearance in the Covington County Circuit Court the previous week, where he entered a guilty plea to the lesser offense of impersonating a governmental servant.

In addition to the legal fees and costs, he is required to pay a bail bond fee of $250 and a $25 fine. The punishment he received was three months, but it was suspended because of a different probation order, and he was given credit for any time that he had already served.