31 Oct
2013
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Good Cop for October 2013: Derek Huff

Why he deserves it: For the month of October, the Peaceful Streets Project has selected former police officer Derek Huff as the good cop of the month. Huff and his partner witnessed three cops viciously beat a handcuffed man who was down on the ground.

The beating was so brutal that Huff said it looked like the victim had gotten into a head on collision and smashed his face into the steering wheel. Huff said that while watching the beating he was reminded of the Rodney King incident. Huff and his partner Mike Furman agonized over what to do about the violent crime they had witnessed, and the next day they decided to come forward to expose the criminal cops.

However, like most instances where a “good” cop comes forward to expose criminal activity, the criminal activity by corrupt cops is covered up by corrupt cops in the department, and the good cops are run out of the department. That is exactly what happened in this incident, and three years later Huff resigned.

Constable Jack Redlick, the lead cop in the violent beating has a long history of abuse. In 2011, he shot and killed a 17-year-old aboriginal boy. Police claimed Cyrus Green, had fled the scene of a robbery and was threatening them with a knife and a baseball bat. Then, last year, Redlick picked up a man in his 50s who had been reported by his mother to the police. Redlick ended up walking the man to an area where they couldn’t be seen, and then put him face down in the snow and punched him repeatedly — while holding his head. In both cases the police also engaged in a cover up.

If only someone like Derek Huff would have come forward sooner, perhaps Redlick wouldn’t have had the chance to victimize (and kill) others. We honor cops who are willing to expose the crimes of their brothers and sisters in blue. We encourage them to do so, and we will stand with them when they do.

We still haven’t been able to find a Hero Cop of the Month because we haven’t found a cop willing to stand up to the thin blue line and arrest criminal cops within their ranks. However, we celebrate good and brave actions by cops and that is why we name Derek Huff our Good Cop of the Month for October.

So, what do you think?