This is an update on the story of the American Police Force arriving in Hardin, Montana last week with three blackened out Mercedes Benz SUV’s emblazoned with “Hardin Police Department” on their side doors.
Scroundrel in Hardin, Montana being run out of town on a rail
Therefore Miodrag A. Dokovich aka Michael Hilton of the American Police Force (APF) seemed like a savior sent to rescue this part of Eastern Montana from its doom of gloom.
He came to town with a line of promises too good to be true and the Hardin town folk bit on it hook, line and sinker. They signed an agreement that would lease him their 465 inmate sitting empty medium security detention center for ten years. He promised to bring prisoners from other states into their empty detention center and implied that he was connected high up in the Obama administration.
In turn he would supply computers, free health care for Hardin residents at the jail medical facility as well as form the City of Hardin police department by deconsolidating them from the Big Horn County Sheriff Department policing their town.
It turns out that Captain Michael, as he likes to be called, is a big time swindler with an extensive criminal record as well has having extensive civil judgments issued against him in California.
Hardin town officials are red faced but apparently have not been able to admit the fact that they have been had and are now pointing fingers at each other to find out who is to blame.
The Sheriff of Big Horn County is still in charge of policing the town of Hardin. The dispatcher in the office of Sheriff Lawrence “Pete: Big Hair acknowledged that they have been receiving a lot of calls from Hardin residents about all the hoopla in town and rumors abound.
He said that there are no reports about any one in Hardin being stopped by law enforcement looking type vehicles. Gun laws in Montana are the most lenient in the whole country. No permits are required for residents owning guns or rifles. He also said that Sheriff Big Hair would be the one approving and issuing concealed gun permits. Those records are not made available publicly.
The Sheriff’s dispatcher also confirmed that there are no security gates being built on the roads leading into or out of town although he joked that might not be a bad idea in order to keep the lookie loos out. His office has been overwhelmed by phone calls from the media and other interested parties trying to find out more about the purported take over of Hardin by the American Police Force.
Today’s Billing Gazette reported that Trina Maurer, chairwoman of the Hardin Chamber of Commerce, said APF made a false step when it showed up with the SUVs bearing police logos – “They would have been smart to buy a pickup” – but she said “it looks good and sounds good, and people are excited.”
Right now the American Police Force is sticking out like a sore thumb. They should get packing quickly before a real posse is formed to tar and feather, then run them out of town on a rail.
Bob van der Valk lives and works in Terry, Montana. He writes articles about Eastern Montana for the montanawithkids.com web site. You may contact him with any comments or suggestions at: tridemoil@midrivers.com
Dateline: Terry, Montana
October 1, 2009 7:00 AM MDT
By: Bob van der Valk
October 1st, 2009 at 9:27 am
What I’d like to know is how the Hardin city officials went hook, line and sinker for this? Maybe it’s just another case of not following the open meeting laws. Another case of government making final decisions and using the public just to rubber stamp them, some times after the fact. “Don’t concern yourselves. We know what we’re doing. So sit down and shut up. It’s none of your business till it’s time for you to vote for it.” Like buying a new fire house without public input or approval, because they couldn’t pass up a bargain. Good thing American Police Force didn’t put its sights on Philipsburg. It might now have a multi-million dollar prison to go with the big new fire house and the future overpriced sewer treatment facilities. Could you imagine what else Philipsburg would have if it had more than 907 people?
October 1st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
“Hardin town officials are red faced but apparently have not been able to admit the fact that they have been had and are now pointing fingers at each other to find out who is to blame.”
——–
Very nice article, Mr. V! I like the image you chose, too, ha ha.
The above quote I excerpted is important to me, and should be important to others. The blame is on all of them.
On Tuesday afternoon, when I first saw the video footage of “Captain Michael” (as he was being called then- no last name yet) and heard his voice, I felt something was not right. Especially given how secretive he & his company were operating and the absurdity of the SUV’s with police decals. The support of a couple local officials with that “trust me, I vouched for this man/company, we’re gonna be RICH!” babble was equally suspicious. That evening, a news article with his last name appeared. This article also contained a short interview with him and Ms. Shay, the newly ex-reporter.
That is when I KNEW something was not right. Using public records available on the internet, I located a “Michael Hilton” in Santa Ana, CA (origin of the company mentioned in the article)who was approx the same age, and then I checked CA court documents. Lo & behold! there were 2 bankruptcy cases recorded, with the alias “Miodrag Dokovich” included. Also included were partial SSN’s.
Then I went further and found still more cases- these being criminal- with aliases of Hilton, Dokovich/-ick/-ic, Hamilton, and etc… Again, all these documents are available to the public, some for a small fee via the PACER courts web portal.
I posted the “Miodrag Dokovich” information on several websites and blogs discussing this case beginning at 8:52PM ET on Sept. 29. I posted it on your blog the next morning. I also sent news tips to many reporters covering this story, including one of the handful credited with “breaking” this story.
Other website commenters began copying and pasting my comments elsewhere, and while many ignored it in favor of the wild rumors, some people saw it for what it was.
I was careful not to post details about the criminal cases online, only hinting to look into him more/ask more questions, because most of them had no SSN attached or photo which I could use to definitively link them. Of course, I *knew* they were all the same person, but it would take press credentials and/or law enforcement contacts or someone local to get the CA booking photos and other non-public information from authorities and parties to his past court proceedings. I wasn’t about to be accused of libel or rumor-mongering.
And thankfully, that is what a few reporters, after several months of this ridiculous charade, finally did.
Why didn’t the town officials or Becky Shay (a reporter who claims the profession is “in her blood” HA!) vet this man and his company?
These town officials surely knew more about this man and this company than I did, right? I would hope so. Yet they did not perform their duties with respect to their constituents OR oaths of office. Or even, in my opinion, in respect to their own personal integrity, what remnant there may be.
This whole mess was uncovered in less than 24 hours because my 10-year old son and I got a little suspicious. Based on three seemingly minor details contained in one news video and one newspaper article (last name, CA origin & accent), I learned this man was a felon and a scam artist in about 8 minutes. And I was sitting in my computer room here in New Hampshire. And yes, I was in my pajamas.
Rumors and fear-mongering only help to obscure the truth, the facts. That is why I posted a few facts on blogs and websites and sent them to reporters. Just those few facts were enough to bring this deal to an abrupt halt- no wild rumors needed. Your research and writing has handled this well, and I appreciate it.
There is a saying, “When money talks, truth is made silent.” This is especially important for citizens to acknowledge when trusting what their elected officials are telling them.
I was surprised to note the absence of public comment on this deal with “APF” in the town meeting minutes over the past few months. Were any townspeople even AT the meetings? That needs to change. The citizens need to watch their elected and appointed officials very carefully, and hold their feet to the fire. Even figuratively ride them out of town on a rail, if need be. For they are indeed, as depicted in your selected image, scoundrels. As much as “Captain Michael.”
Pointing fingers of blame, like rats on a sinking ship. They are all complicit in this scam. They are not victims of a con man, for that is the essence of a con (confidence scam). An honest man cannot be conned. Only the greedy, shady and sneaky can be conned. They think they will get something by skirting some law or another, at the detriment of another party- whether it be the government for tax purposes or the owner of a purposely under-valued antique.
Sorry for the screed, hope you have the space to post my comment. Again, thanks for the wonderful articles on this situation. I hope you will continue to cover it.
-A reader in NH
October 1st, 2009 at 4:41 pm
While NH Reader understood the same, I was actually the person who broke it, three weeks ago. It was a huge pain in the ass to get the timid local media to cover it, though. Finally, on Saturday morning, I faxed the papers and a TV station 30 pages of data with part of “Hilton’s” civil and criminal history. I had been bugging the AP reporter about it since late April, weeks before the APF (Hilton) ever got a website registered, because the real fraud was why the prison got built in the first place, in my estimation. I had called the AP and the Gazette on the afternoon of the 10th.
I’ve rooted out for-profit prison construction and operations all over the country for the past 13 years, and have helped to send many corrupt politicians to jail.
This isn’t meant to diminish NH reader’s efforts in the least. I’m just glad another citizen took enough interest to sort through this obvious con job.
Also, I thoroughly enjoyed your comments on the situation, Bob. Very appropriate.
Frank Smith
http://www.privateci.org
October 1st, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Bob,
If it helps, you might also want to send people to our website as well. We’ve been the only Billings news organization to do consistent reporting on APF and Hardin.
http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/61320122.html
Best regards,
Joel Lundstad
KULR-8 News Director
October 1st, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Hi Frank,
Thanks for your efforts as well, though privately sending info to TV stations is not “breaking” a story. You have to get it out there in public, via public comments on the news websites and blogs which are covering it.
Then, others will copy and disseminate that information even wider. This cements the public’s knowledge of certain facts, and the media cannot ignore them. Then, a reporter must officially “break” the story. See how that works?
I used to go your route: privately sending information to police, news, investigators. You know what? I learned it doesn’t work. So for the past 5 years I’ve been making sure my information is out there, in the public, on the internet. With searchable, publicly-visible time & date stamps to prove when they knew it, I might add.
Similar to you, I’ve rooted out various criminals from all over the world: fugitives, murderers, white collar crime- you name it- for the past 11 years. I’ve most recently dealt with the FBI in a high-profile serial killer case, with their public thanks. One thing I’ve learned, Frank, is that *most* information, as long as it is factual, is best put right out there in the public on the internet. That way, others can find the same information and form a loud voice that the media cannot ignore or sweep under the rug.
And based on your experience in this case, now you know it, too. Not to minimize your efforts, of course. If I wanted glory, I’d use my real name, the one I use when dealing with certain reporters and law enforcement officials. But I am here to make the point that an anonymous person from NH put more effort into vetting this character in 8 minutes- and getting it PUBLIC- than did the town officials or the local reporters. And they had MONTHS.
Thanks for your work, I’ll check out your site!
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Great article. Have been watching the saga unfold on both Rense.com and Steve Quayle. More than just a little concerned as our local S.O suddenly squired out in a slew of new patrol vehicles and knowing our budget issues, one must ask “why”? Hardin and the towns on the I-25 corridor between Denver and Billings are like a second home to me as I travelled that area extensively 8 years ago. Obviously the local folk ARE watchful and hopefully are keeping the tar-pots warmed up and a few pillows ready for feathering the “interlopers”. Think it might be time to clean house at City Hall to get some thinkin folk in there?? Hang tough up there, my friends.
g
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
EVERYONE, PLEASE IGNORE ALL COMMENTS OTHER THAN THIS ONE!!! FYI, I BROKE THE STORY VIA MY INVESTIGATIVE GENIUS!
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Supposedly the parent company was established in 1984. Two companies to check out:
Vance Global (US/DC based company)est. 1984, acquired by Garda Global in 2006. Vance Global website speaks to many of the functions offered by APF (dealing with kidnappers, etc). Their top executives are extremely well connected (check out their bios!) Garda is a Canadian corporation, Canada’s version of Blackwater.
Argus Shield, British company est 1984, acquired by Pinkerton, Britain’s version of Blackwater. Possible, but less likely than Vance, IMHO.
Serbian/Balkan mercenaries work for cheap. They’re taking a lot of government contracts away from westerners and are all over Iraq. The Clinton administration developed many Balkan private military connections during the Kosovo war, and now that the Democrats are back in power I would not be surprised to see an increase in the use of mercenaries from the former Soviet bloc countries. Blackwater/Xe is a pet of the Republicans, and you may have noticed they have a much lower profile since the 2008 election.
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Glad you cleared that up for us. Let’s hope a posse will drive these NWO feaks out of the Montana, the last refuge of real Americans…
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
So first the City gets snookered into building this facility which it turns out there is no need for, and now this American Police Force, with a felon from Montenegro as point man, and a web site hastily thrown together with plagiarism, out-right lies, and a lack of understanding of syntax – some of it so poor it’s comical. Something is just not right over there.
Those American Police Force people need to at a very minimum be disciplined for impersonating law officers. They went too far!
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
My suggestion is remodel the prison/jail make in to a casino or something that people will come to hardin to see. The town should be ashamed of it’s self for allowing some lowlife to come in and promise to give them jobs and financial security by profiting off the misery of others who have made a mistake in life. For profit prison’s are an abominataion to a freedom loving country like our’s what happened to it’s better a 1000 guilty men go free than 1 innocent man be imprisoned.Does any one in this country really doubt that their are innocent people in jail in our country . we also know 50%or more of inmates these days are in their on drug charges ‘and trying to maintain your economy by locking up people who would be better off in treatment than in a cage so others can profit from it is just the lowest.What wont people do for money these day’s ? The towns people should seize the apf’s vehicles sell them and give the money to the people of hardin who need it most then send those lowlife wannbee cops walking back home with their tails between their legs
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Tar and Feather…. for starters?
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
BOB,
Thanks for posting this…It certainly cleares up alot of questions I wasn’t getting from all my “sources”….
Makes ya wonder when this same thing will happen in the big cities (atlanta) and no one will notice for weeks that they have been pulled over by the “Georgia Police Agents”….
I may incorporate that name tomorrow so I can have first dibs on it when TSHTF…..hahahah
Great work Bob….
rusty
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Sounds like the “new world odour” is testing the waters…Stay strong, stay true…tar and feather em’!!!
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Hardin mayoral candidate Kerri Smith says “we can’t panic, just go with the flow and everything will be fine” … typical verbage from an aspiring politician who sees her gravy train leaving town.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 pm
The NWO isn’t just testing the waters, it jumped right in. This situation is not over yet. The man behind the curtain will just appoint another frontman. Next time they’ll be more careful to appoint one without a criminal past.
The best coverage of this attempted takeover of Hardin by foreign agents connected to the CIA is at inforwars with Alex Jones and Steve Quayle. Alex Jones flew to Hardin and interviewed whoever was available. Quayle had been looking into it for a while and knows the situation in depth. Check out the recent infowars radio shows Sept 29 through today Oct 2. There’s more going on in Hardin than corrupt local officials on the take from a foreign conman.
In my opinion it’s a big mistake to focus on this one conman. He was just a front man, a guy doing a job for more sinister and deadly forces hiding behind him. That is obvious by the fact he had money and as his track record shows he probably isn’t worth 2 cents.
So who provided the funds? They won’t reveal that critical piece of info. Becky Shay reportedly broke down crying when the town confronted her and repeatedly asked for the name behind AFP which she would not reveal. You need to just ask yourself why.
So while you all are busy congratulating yourselves for solving this one case, this is going on behind the public’s back in towns all across the US.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pm
LET US PRAY TO GOD that all it is… a bunch of greedy good ole’ boys got duped. Because as far as I’m concerned; with the mandatory Swine Flu vaccinations and RFID “shackle tracking bracelet” soon to be implemented, I couldn’t think of a better way to fill the request made by Robert Gates for 400.000 troops to deploy to the streets and county roads to vaccinate and install RFID Vaccine Tracking at check points on the sheeple.
DOD will just enlist foreign thugs and killers s Mercs – there… y’see everybody – problem solved!
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:15 am
Would one of the posters with investigation skills find out who is the parent company and CEO, etc. Then we could investigate the company to see what kinds of things they’ve been up to.
The company that hired alias “Captain Michael” if they are a reputable company did a background check and knew he was a criminal. Did they hire him because he is a criminal? That leads me to think they are criminals too. The question is what kind of criminals. Rip-off artists or mass murderers?
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE FINALLY ADDRESS THIS:
IMPERSONATING A POLICE OFFICER IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE… EVERYONE KNOWS THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT POLICE…
WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED TO ACT LIKE IT AND NOT DO SERIOUS TIME?
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:36 am
Alex Jones is a fraud. Do some research and make your own determination. But you have been warned. He will betray you.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Montana is known as the state with the most potential resistence to the US Government. These Blackwater (contractors) like companies are springing up in Montana as a means to prepare to contain the good people of Montana. Obama and the corruption in out government is intentionally moving to a dictatorship where the power elite control everyone and everything. They have not yet taken full control – but they plan too. And to do that, they are putting police forces in place, allowing them to dig in and entrench, so that they can fill these empty prisons when the elite decide to makie their move.
I dream of a day when all Montana would come together and come down on this town to physically remove the jackels under an “all options are on the table”.
One thing is for sure, unless you fight back, you will lose.
There is absolutely no reason for these companies to be in Montana given the low employment in your state. There are plenty of people there to run these prisons… and to suggest that they need to bring in outside resources is a blatant lie.
You all know it. But you are all sticking your head in the sand. Which gives testiment to the greater lack of integrity and resposibility of the people themselves. You are running away, as this article clearly states, instead of meeting the challenge.
What cowards the Montana people have become.
Ken Boettger
Ellensburg, WA
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:55 pm
This is going on here in Colorado as our local sheriff’s department has contracted with a company to run the county jail and they have been caught abusing inmates including shackling them to the floor in the middle of the pods so that other inmates have to watch them get beat by these private security people. Several other counties in Colorado also have this scandal going on and when you check out the company, they don’t even have a registered business name. Can anybody say front company for the CIA, etc?
October 3rd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Hi Folks,
Same problem is going on in Pakistan. There american troops (foreign invaders) are strutting around heavily armed in public. Same solution for both places. Pakistan local laws quickly changed to require all Pakistani civilians to carry weapons everywhere they go in public, loaded weapons. Same solution in Hardin.
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
The Hardin Mayor and Town counsel (same people as now?)
already spend tens of millions of taxpayers dollars to build a jail before determining just where the inmates were going to come from (in busines we call this due- diligence).
With such a well-established lack of due diligence in the past, why should the people of Hardin expect anything more now?
Regards,
John Moore
http://WWW.THELIBERTYMAN.COM
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Honesty compassion intelligence guts?
We have an ongoing American Holocaust.
Do you still want to believe what they told you about 9/11?
The guilty are busy importing private mercenaries to hide behind.
October 4th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Ken Boettger
It’s not just Montana’s problem.
How about a 2 million man demonstration of 2nd amendment supporters, gun owners, and hunters in Montana instead of a useless march in DC?
Bring your rifle and support the local economy. Montana is a great hunting state.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
A large assembly of righteously angry men with their .30′s AND their proper ammunition would send a very clear message. Your enemies consider you all cowards and dullards. An assembly of such aforementioned men would give cause for the evil we face to rethink their assumed power. These cancerous demons have NEVER delt with true, Liberty loving American Riflemen.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Dear Fellow Montanan’s
I hope you are going to run the Two Rivers Authority, the mayor and his wife and Becky shay and anyone else who was involved in the “meeting before the Meeting” Out of the state of Montana. Leaders who are Think they are above reproach and do not think they have to answer to or be held accountable for their actions in secret..”Go with the flow”..is crazy talk!
Maybe they can will be picking shit with the chickens in their next Jobs. Please remove them from official duty immediately. Tar and feather them all.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Arrest the American Police Force and the Bush/Obama Global Terrorist Crime Cartel,aka Defence Contractor War Profiteers…Let them be put in your Montana Concentration Camp…
October 5th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
What kind of people build a concentration camp? i guess the kind that Heil the Bush/Obama Global Terrorist Crime Cartel,aka,Defence Contractor War Profiteers…
October 5th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
To “We The People” … Calling it a concentration camp is incorrect, disingenuous and arguably one of the most ignorant things I’ve heard.
A jail is not a concentration camp. This has nothing to do with Bush or Obama. Hilton is not a war profiteer. I can’t believe you would be so stupid, so all I can conclude is that you must thing the rest of us are stupid.
We are not stupid.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Well Homer your entitled to your opinion as i am mine…Just google ” Hardin Montana concentration camp”,and there are 21,600 listings…Sounds to me you probaly Heil the Bush/Obama Global Terrorist Crime Cartel?
October 5th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
It’s not a matter of opinion you ding dong, it’s either a concentration camp or it isn’t… and it isn’t. That’s the fact.
Google “Perpetual Motion” and you’ll find 1.23 million results… must be true, right? I guess the laws of physics and perpetual motion are also matters of opinion in your world.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Oh by the way Homer if you google Hardin Montana concentration camp, the4 5th listing down links on this site directly…Perpetual Motion has nothing to do with the Montana Concencentration Camp…
October 5th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Correction the 5th listing down from the top of “Hardin Montana concentration camp”, links directly to this great website not the 45th…My mistake im so stupid…
October 16th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
So whats going on in Montana? Whats the Hardin Concentration Camp update? Do i have to come there with plenty of tar and feathers? Why the hell would anyone build a concentration camp? Are you people in Montana really that evil or retarded?
October 19th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Look at the dude in the picture being rode out on a rail…Was his beard too long?…Hope it wasnt ZZ top Band…lol