NPD Lt. receives 100 Club 2019 Officer of the Year

Navasota Police Lieutenant Michael Mize was awarded the 100 Club Hero’s Award for Officer of the Year 2019, in conjunction with two other officers, for the successful completion of operations conducted over five years. The task force organized during Operation Speed Bump, Operation Speed Limit and Operation Aftershock yielded a 98 percent conviction rate for 71 felony defendants with a combined sentence totaling more than 1,900 months.

“We are so proud of Lt. Mize’s accomplishments, particularly the diligent effort of working together with other agencies, that helps keep our community safe and controls the drug trafficking,” said Navasota Mayor Bert Miller.

Mize received his award, along with fellow recipients DEA Special Agent Shelby Hamilton and ATF Senior Special Agent Jason Bean, Saturday, May 16, at the 65th annual 100 Club Heroes Awards dinner. All three men had received the United States Attorney’s Award from the United States Attorney’s Office – Violent Crimes Division in the Southern District of Texas in October 2018 for their work in the final phase of the investigations, Operation Aftershock.

Mize was assigned as Navasota PD’s first narcotics investigator in 2008 and made many solo arrests before realizing that narcotics was the driving force behind other criminal activity, including theft, robbery, burglary and murder. Mize developed contacts with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), who noticed the numerous impediments the rural and small agencies had to conduct full-scale investigations. According to Mize, the agencies reached out to the Navasota Police Department to offer resources and assistance. The degree of narcotics, firearms, and other criminal–related activity Mize had uncovered within Navasota and Grimes County resulted in the development of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the implementation of three separate investigation operations.

Operation Speed Bump

Operation Speed Bump began in 2013 with Mize, DEA and ATF agents conducting numerous undercover operations. They oversaw small-scale, controlled, undercover drug and firearm purchases. Using leveraged confidential informants, the task force gathered intelligence to “uncover and identify a network of methamphetamine and firearms traffickers” operating across multiple counties. More than 20 defendants were successfully convicted in state and federal courts from the efforts of Operation Speed Bump.

Operation Speed Limit

Mize was selected in 2015 by the ATF to become a commissioned federal task force officer, allowing him the authority to enforce state and federal laws throughout the country. The three officers, Mize, Hamilton and Bean, continued their work with Operation Speed Limit. The targets were changed from small-scale to large-scale narcotics and firearms traffickers, who were known to supply smaller distributors in rural counties. While many of the targets were from the local Brazos Valley area, others were located throughout the state of Texas, including Harris County and the southern counties. According to Mize, this operation’s focus was to “slow down the drug and firearm supply to Navasota.” More than 25 defendants were successfully convicted in federal court from the efforts of Operation Speed Limit.

Operation Aftershock

Having identified the bottom and middle rung of narcotics and firearms traffickers, Mize, Hamilton and Bean began work on a third operation to target “the most violent offenders in the area.” Beginning in Navasota and stretching into Brazos, Grimes, Madison, Montgomery and Walker Counties, Operation Aftershock resulted in a multi-agency bust in August 2017.

“We requested assistance from more than 200 law enforcement officers from various local, county, state and federal agencies and simultaneously executed more than 50 arrest and 25 search warrants throughout the state of Texas,” said Mize. “The Navasota city hall was turned into a command post and processing center for the operation.”

According to records, arrested persons were brought to the city hall, processed and then bused to the local county jail or the federal holding facility in Montgomery County, depending on their charges. All of the charges filed against suspects for Operation Aftershock were first- and second-degree felonies for the state of Texas or federal charges of delivery/manufacture of a controlled substance or possession/sale of firearms by a felon.

“Their intensive investigative efforts led to multiple prosecutions and the identification of drug conspirators directly associated with Mexican drug cartels,” said presenters of the 100 Club Heroes Award. “The federal and state indictments resulting from the investigations included a number of prominent drug dealers, suppliers, murderers and notorious repeat offenders, including Mexican Mafia member James Deanda, principal dealer and Blood gang member Corey Davis, and Grimes County principal dealer and murderer Gilbert Dominguez.”

In addition, Operation Aftershock resulted in the seizure of more than 100 firearms, including fully automatic weapons, and multiple pounds of illegal narcotics, including methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and amphetamine.

More than 100 undercover buys and countless hours of investigations and field work were conducted during the five years of operations.

“This stunning success was the result of both highly intelligent investigative strategies and taking advantage of both state and federal firearms and narcotics laws to target and incarcerate extremely violent criminals,” said the award presenters. “With this remarkable work, Senior Special Agent Jason Bean, Special Agent Shelby Hamilton and Lieutenant Michael Mize put their lives on the line to investigate and extensive network of criminals solve a myriad of crimes that would have otherwise gone unsolved and make communities safer for the citizens in five Texas counties.”

For more information on the 100 Club, go to www.the100club.org.