Police Chief built a secret force, armed them with weapons...

[LessAspin]

FREE PRESS INVESTIGATION

This top cop ripped apart a Michigan town

He built a secret force, armed them with weapons. Now, ex-Oakley chief Robert Reznick may be headed to prison.

Oakley’s notoriety stretched across the state and nation, as news stories told of an outsize volunteer reserve police force, created by a polarizing chief — Robert Reznick.

He built a unique self-funded police department in the village, supported by donations from his volunteer cops, who gave thousands for the privilege but whose identities were long kept secret, drawing the ire of some residents and triggering years of litigation.

More: They look like cops, but they're not. And they're all over Michigan.

“Cop fights to keep his secret mercenary army,” read a Daily Beast headline in 2015. “150 cops, population 300: pay-to-play policing …” began a headline in The Guardian that same year. And in the Free Press: "Big controversy in tiny village: Why so many reserve cops?"

The typically peaceful community was split: Some Oakley residents wanted Reznick gone; others praised his good work...

https://www.freep.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2019/07/17/oakley-police-chief-robert-reznick/1549651001/

[Sentath]

1. His history is only a little alarming

Confidential informant in HS
Lied on his enrolment to get into the academy at 17
Someone gave him a fake cert to walk graduation with
he used it to work as a cop for years

yeeesh