Corrupt Cop of the Month

Each month, the Peaceful Streets Project will identify a cop that has gone above and beyond in his or her efforts to victimize peaceful members of society or to undermine the civil liberties of the people. That cop will be named our Corrupt Cop of the Month! The chosen cop will be given extra attention by the Peaceful Streets Project team from around the nation during their month of infamy, to include targeted direct action tactics.

When applicable, we will also honor a Hero Cop of the Month. The standards for being awarded the Hero Cop of the Month award are quite simple. Hero cops stand up to the thin blue line and arrest criminal cops within their ranks. Please let us know if you know of any hero cops.

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.

Good Cop for September 2013: Corporal Timothy Brasuell

Why he deserves it: For the month of September, the Peaceful Streets Project has selected Bethel Heights (Arkansas) police officer Corporal Timothy Brasuell as the good cop of the month. Corporal Brasuell was being pressured by his police chief, Don Mckinnon, to generate arrests and tickets regardless of whether or not the victims had committed any traffic violations. In other words, he was pushing crooked cop behavior by his subordinates in order to generate revenue for the department. Disgusted, Brasuell decided to record his chief’s instructions.

His chief implicated himself a number of times, to include giving Brasuell his piece of advice:

“I wanna stop that car load of dumb sh*** in the car, I wanna stop it, but they are not going to do anything wrong.
Hell, I’ll get behind or the other lane and I’d start crowding them.
Kinda dirty pool but i got two or three arrests out of it.”

Sadly, despite the courage of this cop that was wiling to cross the thin blue line to expose a criminal police chief, the county prosecutor decided to do nothing – showing us once again that it is going to take much more than one cop standing up to see justice served. However, we cannot blame Corporal Timothy Brasuell for the cowardice of his department or the prosecutor. If they had even a small fraction of the courage of Corporal Brasuell, then Don Mckinnon would have been charged for conspiracy. At least the city council chose to fire the corrupt police chief.

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 Corporal Timothy Brasuell our Good Cop of the Month for September.

 

Corrupt Cop for August 2013: Detective Charles Kleinert

Why he deserves it: For the month of August, the Peaceful Streets Project has selected Austin Police Department’s Detective Charles Kleinert as the corrupt cop of the month. On the morning of July 26th at 8:19 a.m., a yet to be identified, tall and heavy set white man robbed the Benchmark Bank on West 35th Street, which was what led to Detective Kleinert being present there. 32 year old Larry Eugene Jackson Jr. approached the doors of Benchmark Bank and attempted to open them that afternoon, and when he found that they were locked he walked away. Like most people, he probably came back to the door a second time because it seemed odd to him that a bank would be locked during regular business hours on a non-holiday. This behavior attracted the attention of the bank manager, who after a conversation with Mr. Jackson alerted Kleinert to his presence. Detective Kleinert then exited the bank where he confronted Mr. Jackson. During the confrontation, which the bank manager said lasted two to three minutes, Mr Jackson decided, for reasons unknown, to run away from Kleinert.

Seeing Mr. Jackson flee his presence, and in complete disregard of APD’s own foot chase policy and basic common sense, Kleinert gave chase. During this solo foot pursuit, with no backup, Detective Kleinert used his state issued jewelry and gun to “convince” a nearby motorist to let Kleinert get in his car, and the motorist was ordered to drive at Kleinert’s command as the law required him to do. The motorist claimed later that Kleinert seemed completely unhinged and that he refused to explain why he had commandeered the motorist’s vehicle for such an ill advised pursuit. The frightened driver, with an angry Kleinert screaming at him to “GO! GO! GO!”, drove wherever the raging Kleinert told him to. Upon reaching the Shoal Creek Bridge, Klienert shouted to the motorist, “there he is!” as he jumped out of the commandeered vehicle and chased Mr. Jackson under the bridge. At this point Kleinert claims there was a scuffle, during which time Mr. Johnson was “accidentally” shot in the back of the neck. Detective Kleinert is on the standard two week paid vacation while the Austin Police Department investigates one of its own, yet again, for shooting an unarmed black man in the back. We at the Peaceful Streets Project are confident that with Chief Art Acevedo in charge, the investigation and the department, will back Detective Kleinert. In fact, the Austin Police Department, while not offering up any explanations as to why their cop broke policy and the law, is engaged in a slander campaign against Mr. Jackson. The Austin Police Department has been throwing out the assertion that Mr. Jackson was going to attempt to commit some form of bank fraud as a way to take the focus off of the killer cop and apply it to the victim.

For disregarding the Austin Police Department’s own foot chase policy, for committing what would have been aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping had a non “peace officer” done it, for infringing upon the most basic Constitutional rights of and for being responsible for the death of Larry Eugene Jackson Jr., the Peaceful Streets Project names Detective Charles Kleinert as August’s corrupt cop of the month.

Corrupt Cop for July 2013: Deputy AJ Ross


Why he deserves it:
Rutherford County, Tennessee Deputy AJ Ross has become famous on the internet for the now viral video featuring his inability to handle a citizen who knew his rights. Deputy Ross was manning a DUI/DWI checkpoint when he stopped the vehicle driven by Chris Kalbaugh. When Mr. Kalbaugh rolled down his window a few inches to speak to Deputy Ross, and refused to roll it down all the way as the deputy requested, he became enraged. After a tense exchange where Deputy Ross asks Mr. Kalbaugh how old he was, he then demands that Mr. Kalbaugh pull over and wait to be searched. Mr. Kalbaugh was firm in replying with, “Am I being detained?.” This only infuriated the Deputy further, so Mr. Kalbaugh wisely decided not to challenge the clearly armed and angered Deputy Ross, and complied with the order. After exiting the vehicle as directed Mr. Kalbaugh then stepped out of the frame of the camera and was questioned further by Deputy Ross. What the viewer sees next from the camera’s view in the passenger seat, is the K-9 handler touching locations of the car and saying, “Search here,” and the dog dutifully jumps up and paws where directed.

A few moments later the “law enforcers” use this “alert” to justify violating Mr. Kalbaugh’s right against unlawful searches and seizures by searching his vehicle for drugs that are not permitted by the state. During this unlawful search Deputy Ross’s partner, the K-9 handler, admits upon seeing the video camera recording him that, “It wasn’t a very good alert.” This of course was referring to his own illegal use of the K-9 to secure probable cause. One could reasonably infer that because the next thing that was said by that Deputy was, “Hey Jim…It’s running…” Then Deputy Ross finally sees the camera that has been staring at him the entire time, grabs it, and ends the recording. No contraband was found, and Deputy Ross was finally forced to let Mr. Kalbaugh continue upon his way.

As a side note Deputy Ross had been forced to resign from this same Sheriff’s Department for lying about his personal automobile’s insurance status after a traffic accident he was involved in back in 2004. Sheriff Robert Arnold rehired Mr. Ross in 2010 and made him a Deputy once again.

For conducting an illegal search under the color of law, being verbally abusive to a citizen for the non-crime of knowing his rights, and for stopping a perfectly lawful recording of his unlawful search, we have named Deputy AJ Ross of the Rutherford County, TN Sheriff’s Department, July’s Corrupt Cop of the Month.

Corrupt Cop for June 2013: Trooper Scot Houghton

Why he deserves it: For the month of June, the Peaceful Streets Project would like to present the corrupt cop of the month, Texas DPS Trooper Scot Houghton. Trooper Houghton has earned this distinction from his behavior at the Texas Capitol on June 25th, when he dragged 72-year-old Martha Northington out of her chair in the Capitol Senate Gallery. Ms. Northington was present to observe the filibuster over a proposed law limiting the number of abortion clinics permitted to operate in the State. As the Peaceful Streets Project is a non-political organization, we offer no opinion on the content of the bill itself, nor do we have a position on that issue, but we do however take issue with Trooper Houghton grabbing a 72-year-old woman out of her seat. After dragging her up the stairs against her will, Trooper Houghton then alleged that Ms. Northington slapped him, which necessitated him and his partner Deputy Hill to put her in handcuffs and charge her with a felony. That’s right, they arrested Ms. Northington and charged her with Felony Assault, as the man she was alleged to have slapped was no mere citizen, he was a public servant, which made the offense a 3rd Degree Felony instead of the standard Class A Misdemeanor for any other person. That felony charge was later dropped by the magistrate as even he could see that the charge had no merit, but he did allow the charge of Resisting Arrest stand. So for arresting a 72 year old woman for not vacating a seat in a public building the moment she were asked to, and charging a 72 year old woman with a 3rd Degree Felony after manhandling her up a flight of stairs, the Peaceful Streets Project names DPS Trooper Scot Houghton the Corrupt Cop of the Month.

Corrupt Cop for May 2013: Corporal Jason Mistric


Why he deserves it:
Imagine back to the day when the City Fathers first decided that Austin needed a police department. Their next decision must have been, what kind of people to hire as the APD’s new officers.

“What do you say we hire that Mistric kid?”

“Mrs. Mistric’s brat? No way. That guy is a bully. People like him are the reason we want a police department, not the kind of people we should be hiring.”

“No, he’d be the perfect cop. He thoroughly enjoys ruining peoples’ lives. Bullies and thugs like Mistric are exactly what we need, if we are going to micromanage every aspect of the townspeople’s lives, and depend on issuing citations to bring more revenue into the city’s budget.

Or, maybe, that discussion never happened. Maybe the whole idea of having a police department in the first place was to protect and serve the citizenry. However, if that was the original idea, they failed miserably by hiring Jason Mistric.

Members of the Peaceful Streets Project have been watching Mistric since before the PSP was founded. Mistric’s debut in Austin media was in the April 10, 2009 issue of the Austin Chronicle article, Critical Mass Arrests: Pride or Policy? by Daniel Mottola. “Officer Jason Mistric, who made the arrests that day, told bystanders that Critical Mass’ intersection blockage was a ‘continuous problem’ and that ‘from now on, running a red light is not a ticket; it’s a trip to jail.’ When an onlooker asked if Mistric enjoyed arresting people for this sort of thing, he responded, ‘Yes I do, thoroughly.’”

On December 4, 2011, future PSP member John Bush, and his associate, Matthew Medina attempted to film an interaction between police and partying patrons on 6th street being made by Jason Mistric. Mistric threatened to arrest them both if they did not stand behind a specified pole, even though there were plenty of other pedestrians between them, and then arrested them both anyway. When John Bush decided to fight the charges in court, Mistric attempted to spy on both him and his girlfriend, by creating a Facebook profile under the name, “Max Rock.” He then tried to use printouts of their accounts (with his “Max Rock” username on them), to intimidate the Bushes before a court hearing.

On February 3, 2012, Jason Mistric became the face of the Austin Police Department when they evicted members of Occupy Austin from a public space in front of City Hall. It was during that eviction that Mistric went around threatening to pepper spray individuals for not complying with his orders.

The Peaceful Streets Project has since filmed Jason Mistric, now promoted to Corporal in spite of a low ranking and questionable record on a few occasions since then. He is always afraid of the camera, ordering us to stay back some arbitrary distance, always rude, and never the kind of officer that the city fathers would have ever imagined, back when they decided that Austin needed a police department.

On April 28, 2013, the Peaceful Streets Project pulled up on a DUI stop in which the accused was flexing his rights. As the Peaceful Streets Project was filming, Jason Mistric once again came over and started bossing us around, giving us an arbitrary order to walk in front of the traffic stop as opposed to behind it (while cops like SGT Adam Johnson order us to move to the rear of traffic stops). The worst part of this stop was not the behavior of Mistric towards us, it was the behavior of Mistric toward the owner of the vehicle who was also a passenger. Mistric and the other cops are seen in the video getting in her face and threatening her with arrest on several occasions. She pleaded with Mistric to allow the members of the Peaceful Streets Project to drive her legally parked vehicle home so that it did not have to be towed. Mistric told her that she could either go to jail or get a taxi. She also told the police that she was a victim of sexual assault and she felt uncomfortable with the cops getting in her face in the manner that they did, but Mistric the stalker and the other cops did not yield. Ultimately, after the woman’s car was towed, Mistric then released her to find her own way home at ~3:00 am in the morning.

Jason Mistric is the kind of thug that police should be protecting us from, not hiring and promoting. He does not serve the City of Austin, or its taxpayers and citizens well. In a variation of the Marine Corps Prayer, “Mistric is our asshole cop. There are many more like him, but this one is ours.”

Corrupt Cop for April 2013: Maine Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte


Why he deserves it:
Competition for the coveted Peaceful Streets Corrupt Cop of the Month award has been fierce this month, owing to the fame and popularity within the Police community for the award’s recipients. We had three different cops try to deny Peaceful Streets Project Co-founder, Antonio Buehler his first amendment rights, with one actually arresting him for constitutionally-protected speech, as well as two Austin-area cops killing Senior Citizens for exercising their second amendment rights.

A strong contestant in the Corrupt Cop Contest came from Maine Correction Center Captain Shawn Welch, for his two-hour and ten-minute torture session of inmate Paul Schlosser, by pepper-spraying him in the face while he was immobilized in a restraining chair, and begging for mercy. Captain Welch was originally fired for his actions (but not charged with the crime of torture), but the fact that he is back on the job with a fresh can of pepper spray brings us to the actual recipient: Maine Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte. Commissioner Ponte overruled Captain Welch’s firing for the torture of a human being, and reduced it to a 30-day suspension. When the full-length video of the entire torture session was leaked to the press, Commissioner Ponte launched an investigation not into the use of torture in his facility, but to find the source of the press leak.

The Peaceful Streets Project calls for the re-firing, and felony charges of torture against Captain Welch, and Obstruction of Justice as well as possible accessory or conspiracy charges against Commissioner Ponte. Both men fully deserve to spend the rest of their lives in their own prison.

Corrupt Cop for March 2013: Officer Matthew Marin



Why he deserves it:
On September 22nd, 2012, Houston Police Department cop Matthew Marin shot and killed one-armed, one-legged and wheel-chair bound Brian Claunch upon arriving on the scene of a disturbance call at a home for the mentally ill. HPD’s claims that shortly after responding to the call, Marin and his partner found themselves in a verbal incident with Claunch. HPD then claims that Marin (whose daddy is also a cop) felt his partner was “cornered” by the wheel-chair bound Claunch, possessing what was described as a “shiny object”. Corrupt Cop Marin then shot the amputee/schizophrenic patient in the head.

The shiny object was in fact a ballpoint pen. Matthew Marin was reported to have received three days administrative leave, as is HPD standard procedure for all shooting incidents involving officers. Once again the police have proved that they place the image of the department above the safety of the people, and that is why thug, coward cop Matthew Marin is recognized as the Corrupt Cop of the Month for March, 2013.


Remember, HPD doesn’t frown on murder. Murderers can be chief. (read first comment from Galvan)


Marin was ready to shoot the wheel-chair bound man in the head.


Marin celebrates getting paid for his days off.

Corrupt Cop for February 2013: Officer Patrick Oborski


Why he deserves it:
On January 1st, 2012, Austin Police Department cop Patrick Oborski pulled over a female driver at a 7-11 on North Lamar Blvd in Austin, claiming that he thought she was driving drunk. As Oborski was administering a field sobriety test, the female passenger exercised her First Amendment rights and told the driver that she did not have to submit to the test. Oborski did not like this, so he told Austin Police Department cop Robert Snider to silence the female passenger. Robert Snider ended up yanking her out of the car and throwing her to the ground. Oborski then joined in on the assault, and the two criminal cops then proceeded to pull the passenger up by her handcuffed arms, an act that is considered a torture move.

Antonio Buehler, a designated driver who was fueling up his friend’s truck nearby, observed the assault and began to take pictures with his phone while demanding that Oborski and Snider cease the assault on the woman who had committed no crime. Oborski then turned his attention toward Buehler, got in his face, and thrust his hands into Buehler’s chest. After pinning Buehler between himself and the truck, and continuing to scream at and push Buehler, Oborski claimed that Buehler spit in his face, a third degree felony that carries a sentence of two to ten years.

After Oborski filed his affidavit, several witnesses stepped forward with stories that contradicted Oborski’s sworn statements, including one witness who provided video which shows conclusively that Oborski perjured himself that night. Despite proof that Oborski had filed a false report and used excessive force, his chain of command all the way up to Police Chief Art Acevedo, with cover from Internal Affairs, decided to push forward with their charges against Buehler and the other victims that night, and filed additional charges in retaliation against the passenger for going public with her story. The Austin Police Department then continued to harass Buehler and other members of the newly-formed Peaceful Streets Project who tried to hold the cops accountable, arresting Buehler and three other members of the organization a total of five more times for the crime of filming cops in public.

The Peaceful Streets Project is eager to inform the public about Patrick Oborski not only because the Austin Police Department lacks the integrity and honor to deal with the criminals within their own department, but also because the Peaceful Streets Project would have never come into existence without the unethical Oborski, who was so eager to destroy innocent people’s lives in order to cover up for his own cowardly, criminal acts.


Please download and print out this flier and post it on a nearby light pole!

 

Corrupt Cop for January 2013: Trooper Kelly Helleson



Why she deserves it:
Last July, Trooper Kelly Helleson followed Trooper David Ferrell’s instructions to conduct a “roadside cavity search” on two women for suspected marijuana possession. A roadside cavity search is illegal – for anything…and there is no public safety justification for a cavity search for marijuana, regardless of where it happens. Even after you are arrested and taken to jail for a joint – you don’t get anything but a ‘friendly’ pat down – outside the clothes.

As can be seen in the video – this is obviously standard practice, if not policy. Trooper Helleson didn’t bat an eye before inserting her fingers into the vaginas and anuses of these two women (without changing gloves!).

The only reason we know about this case of roadside rape is because the two victims had the courage to come forward and sue the Texas Department of Public Safety. Prior to this incident, the lawsuit alleges numerous complaints of illegal roadside searches that went ignored.

The Peaceful Streets Project has been and will continue to engage in direct action to raise awareness of this incident and the criminal actions of Trooper Kelly Helleson (and Trooper David Ferrell).


Update:
Both Kelly Helleson and David Ferrell were indicted by a Grand Jury for crimes committed against the two innocent women on the side of the road, that night!