A team of journalists from AL.com earned national recognition for reporting that exposed predatory policing in the small town of Brookside, reporting that freed people from jail and prompted Alabama legislators to pass new laws.

AL.com’s work won the 2023 Hillman Prize for Web Journalism, the Sidney Hillman Foundation announced today. John Archibald, the lead reporter for the project, worked with investigative reporter Ashley Remkus, data reporter Ramsey Archibald and investigative editor Challen Stephens to chronicle the rise of the Brookside Police Department and continue reporting through its downfall.

“Investigative journalism is a pillar of our democracy that exposes injustice and calls for greater accountability from our institutions,” said Bruce Raynor, president of the Sidney Hillman Foundation. “This year’s Hillman honorees have done exemplary work demonstrating the importance of investigative reporting in spurring public discourse and holding those in positions of authority to account.”

The team from AL.com is being honored alongside journalists from The New York Times, ProPublica, NBC News and others. The work at AL.com was supported by Ivana Hrynkiw, who led engagement efforts, and former staffer Joe Songer, who contributed photography.

“It’s amazing to see our work being recognized along well known national outlets and work that resonated across the country, ” said Kelly Ann Scott, editor in chief and vice president of content at Alabama Media Group. “It’s a testament to the talented team here at AL.com and the power of reporting by a team who lives here, understands Alabama and can report in a way that will power change here at home.”

In Brookside, home to just 1,253 people north of Birmingham, AL.com revealed how police used proceeds from fines and forfeitures to increase revenue by 640 percent over two years. Those funds came to account for nearly half of the town’s income.

The police chief, his top lieutenant and more than half of the force resigned or were forced out within two weeks of AL.com’s initial story. Two months later, the state legislature passed a law restricting Alabama towns from using revenues from fines and fees to supply more than 10 percent of their budgets. Dozens of criminal cases from Brookside were thrown out in court.

“Local journalism is the core of American journalism, and we’re proud to be doing the work that changes lives, laws and minds here in Alabama,” Scott said. “That’s why we do this work — the impact it has here. And that tremendous impact is what we’re most proud of with this reporting and series.”

The Brookside coverage also won a George Polk Award for local reporting.

The reporting is part of a series, Banking on Crime, that examines policing for profit and the criminalization of poverty in Alabama. The series is a finalist in the multimedia category of the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Awards and was named a finalist for the Knight Award for Public Service from the Online News Association.

Banking on Crime was published with the support of a grant from Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights.

The Hillman Prizes honor journalists “who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good,” according to the foundation. “Recipients exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill and social justice impact.”

The foundation is named for Sidney Hillman, the president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and hailed as one of the greatest labor leaders in U.S. history, according to the foundation.

The other 2023 Hillman prize honorees are:

• Book – By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners, W.W Norton & Co.
• Broadcast – Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra, MSNBC & NBC News
• Newspaper – The Ransom: The Root of Haiti’s Misery, The New York Times
• Magazine – Endgame, ProPublica and The New Yorker
• Opinion & Analysis – The Class Room, More Perfect Union