Police officers who have amassed the most complaints Officers who have amassed the most complaints

Joseph Roy Brashier

Daphine E. Stevensen

One Houston police officer was reprimanded for using a "leg sweep" that injured a woman. Another officer forgot to lock doors at a jail facility, letting a prisoner escape. Other officers were reprimanded for causing accidents, failing to complete investigations and misconduct. Here's a snapshot of disciplinary actions against Houston police officers with the most sustained complaints, which are violations of HPD policy that were ruled valid. These files come from more than 1,100 pages of city documents recently obtained through an open-records request.Age: 46 Years of service: 27 Sustained complaints: 47 Reprimands and suspensions: 19 Disciplinary highlights: Sept. 9, 2010: Written reprimand for losing police identification in burglary of his vehicle. Jan. 10, 2006: Written reprimand for failing to complete 32 hours of in-service training in 2005. May 3, 2000: 30-day suspension for insubordination for refusing to answer questions during an internal affairs inquiry into improper conduct, harassment and assault, in lieu of firing. Jan. 23, 1998: Four-day suspension for leaving a bag of crack cocaine in a cup holder in his police cruiser and not logging it in as evidence. Sept. 16, 1994: Two-day suspension for running stop sign and causing a minor accident by hitting a vehicle. The suspension noted Ellis had five previous accidents. July 22, 1994: Four-day suspension for a major accident caused when Ellis ran a red light and struck a vehicle. Ellis was out of his assigned beat without prior notification and conducting personal business. March 21, 1989: Five-day suspension for not attending a court trial to testify against a drug dealer. The case had to be dismissed.Age: 48 Years of service: 16 Sustained complaints: 44 Reprimands and suspensions: 34 Disciplinary highlights: July 11, 2008: One-day suspension for transporting two women prisoners to jail March 4, 2008, and stopping to purchase a meal at a drive-through. April 24, 2007: One-day suspension for leaving prisoner unguarded in Ben Taub Hospital room. Oct. 8, 1998: One-day suspension for an accident with a private vehicle when he made a turn from wrong lane, after he was suspended April 25, 1997, for causing another accident. Ordered to attend HPD academy defensive driving course. Nov. 8, 1996: One-day suspension for ignoring six court subpoenas. Dec. 10, 1997: Five-day suspension for injuring a patron he was arresting while working extra duty in a nightclub, releasing the suspect without charges and not reporting the use of force. Dec. 15, 1999: Four-day suspension for arresting a woman and not turning in her purse to the jail property room.Age: 51 Years of service: 29 years Sustained complaints: 43 Reprimands and suspensions: 11 Disciplinary highlights: Jan. 13, 2006: 30-day suspension, in lieu of firing, for failing to cooperate with other agencies, using racial jokes and slurs, and misconduct off duty. April 18, 2003: Four-day suspension for misconduct for not properly clearing a call relating to a woman who was threatened by a daughter she was evicting from her apartment. March 27, 2002: Seven-day suspension for leaving a bean-bag shotgun on top of his police vehicle, then driving the cruiser through a car wash where the weapon was run over by another police car. Dec. 11, 2001: Written reprimand for attempting to question a woman outside a private park he owned without identifying himself as a police officer, and not filing an application for working an extra job at the park. April 10, 2001: Written reprimand for leaving a bag of cocaine in the backseat of a police vehicle. Dec. 8, 1999: Six-day suspension for using an HPD computer to look up criminal background of two civilians at a nightclub; denied doing the checks when questioned.Age: 40 Years of service: 15 Sustained complaints: 41 Number of reprimands and suspensions: 23 Disciplinary highlights: Aug. 10, 2005: One-day suspension for failing to finish a robbery report. Sept. 23, 2002: Three-day suspension for failing to keep notes on major accident he investigated. June 5, 2002: One-day suspension for not reporting use of force during an arrest at Sharpstown Mall when he used a â€œleg sweepâ€ to knock a woman to the pavement. May 9, 2001: Three-day suspension for calling in sick Oct. 13, 2000, for a court appearance but working an extra job within 24 hours. June 5, 2000: One-day suspension for failing to inventory contents of the trunk and cash in glove box in a car belonging to a woman he arrested. Aug. 14, 1999: One-day suspension for filing improper charges when he ticketed the owner of an illegally parked car for operating a vehicle with a missing rear license plate, although the vehicle did not require it. June 16, 1999: Six-day suspension for failing to go to municipal court on Dec. 11, 1998, after being previously reprimanded once and suspended three times for missing court.Age: 42 Years of service: 17 Sustained complaints: 41 Reprimands and suspensions: 13 Disciplinary highlights: Aug. 30: Resigned after he was fired for not complying with orders to stay home while relieved of duty after being indicting for writing hot checks. July 15: 15-day suspension for working as a full-time coach and teacher at La Marque High School while relieved of duty and ordered to stay home. Oct. 21, 2009: 16-day suspension for refusing to turn over bank records to HPD internal affairs officers investigating him. Took suspension in lieu of firing. July 6, 2006: Nine-day suspension for violating a no-contact HPD order between Flowers and his former wife, also an HPD officer, after they had an altercation after their separation. Flowers called his estranged wife repeatedly, visited her and sent text messages â€œconsidered to be harassing or threatening in nature.â€ June 2, 2004: One-day suspension for entering a nightclub in uniform in October while at a party with nude dancers organized by a fellow HPD officer. Oct. 28, 2003: Two-day suspension for making a 34-minute traffic stop while he was en route to a higher-priority call.Age: 45 Years of service: 20 Sustained complaints: 33 Reprimands and suspensions: 10 Disciplinary highlights: June 30, 2010: Chief Charles McClelland fired Brashier, but an arbitrator reduced punishment to 10-day suspension. Brashier ticketed two motorists for traffic violations while off duty. Brashier then ordered the vehicles towed by wreckers he waved over who were in the area. He did not fill out a tow slip or call dispatch for a contract wrecker. Nov. 7, 2008: 90-day suspension, part of whatâ€™s called a â€œlast chance agreementâ€ to keep his job, for violating an internal affairs order not to contact his wife, from whom he was separated. Brashier contacted the woman six times, including going to her apartment and getting into a confrontation with a relative. Feb. 16, 2004: Three-day suspension for failing to issue an incident report for a homeowner who had been assaulted and their car damaged by an assailant. Brashier told the resident, who had been waiting four hours for police to respond, to go to the Westside Police Station to make a report of the crime. Dec. 6, 2000: Written reprimand for causing a wreck by speeding and hitting a vehicle. Dec. 27, 1996: Written reprimand for making an obscene and sexually oriented gesture to a motorist he was passing on July 18, 1996, and getting into a wreck with the motorist and failing to give the motorist his badge number. Brashier was off duty because he had been suspended for another infraction. Oct. 19, 2001: One-day suspension for major accident he caused by speeding.Age: 44 Years of service: 18 Sustained complaints: 32 Reprimands and suspensions: 16 Disciplinary highlights: Sept. 15: Two-day suspension for disrespect for telling one of his lieutenants, â€œI want to stay the (expletive) as far away from you as (expletive) possible,â€ during a staff meeting where he was assigned an office. Nov. 8, 2004: Nine-day suspension reduced to three by hearing examiner. Sept. 25, 1995: 15-day suspension for being untruthful when saying he was not asked to complete an incident report on a DWI suspect who had been involved in a collision with a police officerâ€™s personal car. A hearing examiner found Kessler was â€œaggravatedâ€™â€™ about being called to the scene during his dinner break. June 9, 1995: Two-day suspension for failing to show a woman his police identification as he questioned her through an apartment door while investigating a disturbance. March 1, 1995: Written reprimand for leaving his hand-held police radio in car during lunch break at restaurant, and it was stolen. April 28, 1994: One-day suspension for jailing a resident for minor traffic violations, without getting authorization from a supervisor.Age: 44 Years of service: 18 Sustained complaints: 31 Reprimands and suspensions: 18 Disciplinary highlights: Jan. 3, 2007: Written reprimand for failing to close doors at the southeast jail facility, allowing a female prisoner to temporarily escape. Nov. 4, 2002: Four-day suspension for failing to report for duty or calling a supervisor. Disciplinary letter noted she had been previously suspended for tardiness, and since January 2002 she had been tardy 14 times. May 15, 2002: 15-day suspension for neglect of duty for not including in an incident report critical evidence including witness statements, the names of arresting officers, and other evidence after helping capture a man who attempted to kidnap a 12-year-old girl on June 18, 2001. Prosecutors said the lack of information hampered prosecution because Stevensen would have made a weak witness at trial. March 27, 2002: Written reprimand for not finding a bag of cocaine on rear floorboard of police unit before beginning her shift at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Nov. 2, 2001: Four-day suspension for having expired inspection and registration stickers on her personal car, in addition to having another carâ€™s licenses plates on her vehicle. Aug. 7, 1996: Written reprimand for not searching her patrol car and finding a pistol left by a prisoner.Age: 46 Years of service: 25 Sustained complaints: 30 Reprimands and suspensions: 11 Disciplinary highlights: Oct. 11, 2005: Written reprimand for hitting another police vehicle, causing an accident with more than $1,000 damage Aug. 20, 2003: Four-day suspension for failing to detect a burglary at a Clear Lake burrito factory after responding to a burglary alarm; only searched three sides of building. Jan. 30, 2003: Written reprimand for failing to attend Municipal Court on Nov. 10, 2002; second missed court appearance in six months. April 15, 1996: 10-day suspension for helping a wrecker driver who was a friend recover checks and items stolen by serving an arrest warrant. Pederson took the wrecker driver with him to the arrest at a motel and left the suspect in his patrol car to search the room, allowing the wrecker driver and another man access to the prisoner. April 30, 1990: Written reprimand for pulling over, while off duty, two civilians Pederson mistakenly believed were involved in a car burglary. His account of legal speeds he drove during the pursuit was rejected by investigators, who also found he did not call in a report of the burglary or make a report of the incident.