Community | October 02, 2009 | 25 comments

Montana Attorney General Probes Secretive American Police Force

source: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/10/we-posted-an-item-yesterday-about-a-secretive-c...

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mae37
USATODAY.com

about a secretive California security company called American Police Force that was set to take over operation of a never-used jail in Hardin, Mont.

APF raised eyebrows in town after Mercedes SUVs belonging to the company arrived bearing decals that read, "City of Hardin Police Department."

The company, and the city's economic development arm that has negotiated a deal with APF, refused to give details about its plans, including where it expects to get prisoners to put in the jail.
Today comes word from The Billings Gazette, which has been following the story closely, that Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock has launched an investigation into APF to find out what's going on.

That came after the newspaper and the Associated Press published stories saying that Michael Hilton, the apparent founder of APF who claims to be a military veteran, has a lengthy criminal record and has served time in prison in California.

The attorney general has sent a nine-page demand letter to Becky Shay, a former Gazette reporter who is now spokesman for APF. The paper says Shay did not respond immediately to its inquiries.

According to the document, Bullock is launching a civil investigation to determine if APF is violating the Montana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

Bullock is demanding that the company provide proof for some of the claims on its website, such as having contracts with the U.S. government and operations in all 50 states.

The newspaper says it has turned up no record of APF contracting with the federal government.
Bullock also requested a copy of the agreement between APF and Two Rivers Authority, the Hardin economic development arm that built the white elephant jail two years ago.

The Gazette also reports that the state's three-man congressional delegation and the governor have raised concerns about APF project.

(Photos: Left, of MIchael Hilton, and right, of police decal, by Matthew Brown, AP)
  1. groups:
    Community,   Collective Journalism,   Current Cultural Issues,   Law and Justice
  2. tags:
    Control,  Police State,  NWO,  Maine,  2 more
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25 comments // Montana Attorney General Probes Secretive American Police Force

  • Carl_Doane
    • 0
      Carl_Doane  

    • Some one should look Acorn or one of its affilitate, Obama may Have estabilished his civilian police corp, before he took office,
      Acorn international could staff this site and many others overnight,

    • 2 years ago
  • JImmyjumpnjive
  • hunzedog
  • dudefromtherock
    • 0
      dudefromtherock  

    • Insidious corruption lurks everywhere and most certainly in our power structures.Our so called "pillars" of the community have to be kept in check. Blackwater is apparently the so called "American Police Force".

    • 2 years ago
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  
    • dudefromtherock:

      In the banbnna republics they are called the Federales, and that is what we have become. Instead of using more trained military with a strong chain of command and accountability in Iraq, they hired these overpaid unaccountable thugs. Why not pay our accountabile and well trained patriotic soldiers more instead. Why? Because they want no accountability.

      Blackwater was in N.O. after Katrina. I was told by a woman who knew a man who worked for them that he had a felony conviction and served time and they still hired him.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • dudefromtherock:

      um.. I think that is incorrect. IIRC The Federalis are the Mexican FBI. They are in no way a private contracted group. They did have a massive corruption problem for a long time though under previous political administrations. I could see their name becoming synonymous with corrupt police.

      So far as I know blackwater and Michael Hilton have nothing to do with each other, except a possibly common propensity for illegal behavior.

    • 2 years ago
  • MotherForTruth
    • 0
      MotherForTruth  

    • "…including where it expects to get prisoners to put in the jail." ????
      Our corrupt law enforcement and judicial system desperately needs restructure. Who is watching the watcher? Common Procecutorial misconduct practices and business deals with prison system is a very profitable industry. Who is next? It could be you or your loved ones. The most disturbing of all is you do not have to do anything wrong!
      Here is another example of corrupt law enforcement business in a small region of Maine - rape capital of US - Bar Harbor Maine where "In a small county of only 50,000 people, as many as 4 men per month have been indicted on multiple counts of Rape, each carrying up to 30 years in prison."
      “[Assistant DA Mary Kellett] said that it could be difficult to find jurors for sex cases because many people have been victims of sex offenses or have been accused of committing them.”
      http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=268845364&pag...//www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=52346&town=Ellsworth&byline=BillTrotter&cname=Statewide&section=Hancock&tt=9AM&page_last_updated=3/12/2002+10:36:48+AM&firstName=Mary&lastName=Kellett

    • 2 years ago
  • StormQueller
    • 0
      StormQueller  

    • This is exactly what state attorneys general need to do. So many top law officials just sit on their thumbs. I salute Bullock in his effort to investigate the APF.

      It's good to see one acting to protect his constituents. I mean not just the rich ones.

      I don't know who this APF guy is, but he fits the profile of any number of puppets of the Shadows (the unelected shadow government that actually runs this country.) And an out of the way prison is just the kind of facility they like.

      Private security forces like APF and Blackwater are extremely dangerous. They have all the weapons and non of the rules our local constabulary must follow. They are like the bad guys in old cowboy movies, and should be outlawed.

      Ok, I said my piece.

      -=db=-

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • StormQueller:

      rofl.

      "Puppets in the shadows?" You mean sad little con artists and ex-felons who have to file bankruptcy to keep from getting evicted from their apartment twice? Oh yeah, he's a great and powerful illuminatus of evil allright *facepalm*

      There IS no APF. it's made of nothing but a website, some rented equipment and answering services, and heaping helpings of bullshit.

    • 2 years ago
  • carmalite
  • cztheday
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  

    • So the guy is a Serbian immigrant who Americanized his name, and has a history of long con.

      Why do I get the feeling there are probably people looking for him in Serbia? Maybe we'll get to find out what his actual name is eventually.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • That came after the newspaper and the Associated Press published stories saying that Michael Hilton, the apparent founder of APF who claims to be a military veteran, has a lengthy criminal record and has served time in prison in California.

      -------------------

      For what did he serve?

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
  • asherp
  • bombastinator
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  

    • As a Montanan I can tell you that this jail in Hardin has been just the most unGodly mess from day one. Perhaps I am not fully understanding the situation. But from my perspective Hardin was a small, stagnating community located right at the edge of a large Native American Reservation (Custer Battlefield is just down the road) whose citizens got together and decided they needed to do something bold to bolster the local economy and ensure the community's continued viability.

      But how many of us, faced with the full range of options as to what to do with the character of our small hometown (Hardin's population is less than 10,000) would say to ourselves, "You know, I always kind of wished that I could raise my kids in a prison community."? Yeah, well, welcome to Hardin...

    • 2 years ago
  • QuickJman
  • kingfugazi
  • bombastinator
  • masterzip
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  

    • What is a convicted crimial doing with a firearm that is a federal crime. I smell a rat and that rat should be delt with A.S.A.P. This is still a free country well for now any way. Lets stand together or we will all hang one at a time. I can smell another civil war getting closer and closer. So are you going to fight for your rights or are you going to bow down to the home grown terrorist? Most of witch we voted for. I am not going to let what my forefathers fought and died for be taken away with out a fight. We have gotten soft We have had it to easy for to long. I see it every day some fat kid sitting on his dead ass playing video games and eating a Mcsomething or another. Wakeup people before It's to late. Freedom is not free we must fight for it every day.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
  • bailey78
  • hunzedog
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