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In response to an open records request filed by InstantNewsKaty, the City of Brookshire has released the names and qualifications of the 12 applicants for that city’s vacant police chief position.

Applicants include two current and three former members of the Brookshire Police Department, including one former Brookshire police chief.

Current Brookshire police officers applying for the job include Lt. Darrell Branch and Officer B.H. Steinberg.

Former Brookshire officers vying to become chief are former chief Rex Morgan White, who is currently serving as the director of the University of Houston-Downtown Criminal Justice Center; James Edward Bruinsma, who is currently working as a police officer in nearby San Felipe and Gilbert Thompson, now working as a police officer for the Port of Houston.

San Felipe’s current chief of police, Brandal Jackson, is also among the candidates.

The Brookshire police chief spot has been vacant since June, when long-time chief Joseph Prejean stepped down. While Prejean termed his departure a “retirement,” he had been under growing criticism in the community in the wake of several unsolved murders and complaints of widespread drug sales, prostitution and gambling in the city.

The selection process has also been controversial, with accusations Mayor Joey Vaughn and his selection committee – which includes himself, Mayor Pro Tem Marilyn Vaughn and former chief Prejean – has been “secretive” and unwilling to provide other council members and residents with an update on the selection process.

At least one council member, Alderman Jimmy Sanders, has publicly called for a report from the committee, but has seen those requests ignored.

Under Texas state law, the names and qualifications of police chief applicants are public information. Those applicants who are current peace officers can have their home address, telephone number and social security number withheld, but all other information is subject to disclosure under provisions of the Texas Public Information Act.

Information on the 12 candidates, based on information they provided to the city, is summarized below.

Darrell Branch

Branch is currently a lieutenant with the Brookshire Police Department. He has been serving with the department for more than 15 years.

Branch began his law enforcement career as a Waller County Pct. 4 Reserve Deputy Constable from 1994-1996. He then became a reserve police officer in Brookshire in 1996.

In December of 1996, he was hired as a full-time paid police officer and has worked for the City of Brookshire since. He was promoted to sergeant in 2000, and to lieutenant in 2005.

That experience, Branch said in his application letter, will serve him well as chief of police.

“I feel that my years with the Brookshire Police Department have prepared me for the position of chief of police. I am familiar with the community and I feel I am aware of the needs of the citizens of Brookshire in order to make a safer community,” Branch noted.

B.H. Steinberg

In his letter of application, Steinberg said he had 31 years of law enforcement experience, including five years of prior command and managerial experience as a police sergeant. He is a certified Master Peace Officer with certifications in narcotics, mental health and SWAT. He did not list his prior law enforcement positions.

Steinberg said he possesses the “professional integrity and fairness” to be Brookshire’s next chief of police.

“As an officer with Brookshire, I have maintained knowledge of modern management practices and technology. I have also taken initiative to perform duties; shown resourcefulness; fairness and displayed impartiality on every occasion,” he said in his application. “I have a working knowledge of local, state and federal statutes as it applies to law enforcement and I communicate effectively orally and in writing.”

Rex Morgan White

White previously worked as Brookshire’s chief of police for less than a year, serving from January to November of 1978 under former Mayor Lloyd Woods. He said he left the position because it was “too political.”

White then worked as a patrol commander for the Hedwig Village Police Department from 1978-1984, as a compliance officer for the Westside National Bank from 1985-April 1988 and as director of the Criminal Justice Training Center for the University of Houston-Downtown since 1988.

White also served as chief deputy constable for the Waller County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office under constables Harwell, Hunt and Alexander.

James Edward Bruinsma

Bruinsma, currently a police officer for the Austin County town of San Felipe, previously served as both a reserve police officer and paid police officer in Brookshire.

Bruinsma was a reserve officer in Brookshire from May 2005 – January 2006 until he was offered a full-time job as a San Felipe police officer He stayed in San Felipe only until he was offered a full-time job in Brookshire in April of 2006.

In March of 2008, Bruinsma returned to the San Felipe police force.

Gilbert Thompson

A police officer for the Port of Houston, Thompson’s resume reflects two previous hitches in the Brookshire police force. He served as a Brookshire officer from 2000-2001 and for less than a year in 2006.

Gilbert noted on his application he was “asked to resign” from the department, but did not offer further explanation.

Gilbert also said he served as interim chief of police for the port police department, but was not offered the permanent chief’s position.

In addition to Brookshire and the Port of Houston, Gilbert has served as a peace officer for Missouri City Police Department (1981-1988), Fort Bend County Pct. 2 Constable’s Office (1990-1991), Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office (1991), Prairie View A&M Police Department (1992-1994), Fort Bend ISD Police Department (1994-1999) and Harris County Pct. 7 Constable’s Office (2001-2005).

Brandal Jackson

Jackson is the only currently-serving chief of police applying to be top cop in Brookshire. He has been San Felipe’s chief of police since 2008.

Prior to becoming police chief, Jackson worked for the Austin County Sheriff’s Office from 2000-2008. From 2001 until his departure, Jackson was a patrol deputy; from 2000-2001, he was a jail supervisor.

Prior to joining the sheriff’s office, Jackson was a juvenile correctional officer at the Texas Youth Commission’s J.W. Hamilton Unit in Bryan (1998-1999), and an adult correctional officer at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Pack Unit in Navasota (1992-1998).

Charles R. Holmes

A 27-year veteran of the Austin County Sheriff’s Office, Holmes is currently a criminal investigator.

Holmes began his career in Austin County as a jailer. He was then assigned to the patrol division until being named an investigator in 1998.

The first African-American deputy sheriff in Austin County, Holmes was named Deputy of the Year in 1992 and 2004.

Halbert Antonius Miller

Currently a reserve police officer for the Woodbranch Police Department, Miller has worked in law enforcement or security positions since 1993, including a stint as interim police chief for the North Forest (Houston) ISD Police Department.

His record also shows a number of career stops that lasted only several months, including several as an unpaid reserve police officer.

Miller’s resume shows service as a reserve police officer for the Galena Park Police Department (Oct.-Dec. 1993), police officer for the Texas Southern University Police Department (Dec. 1993-March 1997), again as a reserve police officer in Galena Park (April-Aug. 1997), security officer/student monitor at the Houston School for Accelerated Learning (June-Aug. 1997), police officer for the Prairie View A&M University Police Department (Aug. 1997-June 2007), Harris County Pct. 7 deputy constable (Aug 1997-June 2007), reserve police officer with the Hempstead Police Department (March-June, 2005), police officer for the Waller Police Department (Aug. 2005-Feb. 2006) and police officer for the North Forest ISD Police Department (March 2006-Aug. 2009).

Miller served as interim police chief of the North Forest ISD for a short time, but was not offered the position on a permanent basis.

Since November 2009, Miller has been a reserve police officer for the Woodbranch Police Department. Woodbranch is a small city in extreme eastern Montgomery County.

On his application, Miller stated he was terminated from the Texas Southern University Police Department, noting he “would like to explain” the circumstances of his firing. No further explanation was provided in the documents.

Jay Montalvo

Montalvo is a retired senior police officer with the Houston Police Department.

Before retiring from the Houston Police Department in 2008, Montalvo was an instructor at the HPD Academy. Before his assignment to the academy, Montalvo was a patrol officer for 12 years, receiving 23 commendations for exemplary service.

Before joining the HPD, Montalvo served as an Army officer. He was first commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1980 and continued to serve as active military and in the reserve until 2004, reaching the rank of major. His most recent assignment was as an assistant professor of military science at the University of Houston.

Montalvo currently owns and operates a private training academy that provides concealed handgun license training, as well as courses in handgun retention, self defense, combat jujitsu, basic marksmanship and tactical shooting.

During his military career, Montalvo was assigned to train the Panamanian military in civilian police techniques, and co-authored the first Panamanian Police Penal Code to assist the military in converting to civilian police officers.

Allen Ray Rivers

A retired detention sergeant from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Rivers currently works as a contract U.S. Deputy Marshal, transporting federal prisoners throughout Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee for the federal court system.

Rivers served as a police lieutenant for the Hempstead Police Department from June of 1987 to Dec. of 1988. He then went to work for Fort Bend County, where he served from Jan. of 1989 until his retirement in March of 2008. Since that time, he has worked with the Marshal’s Service.

While working for the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Rivers served as vice president of the Fort Bend County Deputies Association.

He was also an independent candidate for Sheriff of Fort Bend County in 2008.

Howard Sylve III

Sylve is currently a patrol sergeant with the Hempstead Police Department, responsible for supervising three investigators and nine patrol officers. He is also a member of the Hempstead Police SWAT team.

Sylve’s law enforcement career includes working as a patrol officer with the Prairie View A&M University Police Department (July 2001-Nov. 2003), patrol officer with the Hempstead Police Department (Nov. 2003-June 2005) and corporal/lead criminal investigators for the Texas Southern University Police Department (June 2005-Sept. 2008). Since Sept. of 2008, he has been in his current position with the Hempstead Police Department.

Sylve has also been a member of the U.S. Army Reserve since 1991. He is a sergeant in the military police and an administration specialist.

Willie J. Williams

Williams is a former federal law enforcement investigator, having served 34 years with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. During his tenure with the Postal Inspection Service, Williams served as the acting assistant inspector in charge of the Fort Worth Division, a project coordinator/team leader in the Houston Division and team leader in Houston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, McAllen and Harlingen.

Williams also served as a task force leader on major criminal investigations into homicides, robberies, assaults, burglaries, identity theft and narcotics.

Prior to joining the Postal Inspection Service, Williams was a police officer with the Baltimore Police Department.