Brett was born in Springfield, Oregon. He was the oldest of the three boys born to Frank (Gene) DeCouteau and Karilyn Collins. His younger brothers are Jerry and Ted. Brett's mother died when he was very young. Gene remarried a lady named Monica and they had two daughters, Danette and Colette.
The family moved to North Dakota where Brett went to high school. Gene built the family home on tribal land near the Chippewa Indian Reservation. Brett played every sport is school. He was an excellent student and graduated Salutatorian. Dusnseith, North Dakota wasn't big enough for Brett. He wanted to see the world. He had big plans for his life. He knew from a very early age that he wanted to go in to law enforcement. He knew what he had to do to make his dreams come true.Brett enlisted in the Army when he was a senior in high school. He was 17 when he signed his enlistment papers and needed his father to sign the papers as well. Gene knew Brett wanted out of North Dakota and even though he would miss his son, he signed the enlistment papers. A few weeks after graduating from high school Brett was in Fort McClellan, Alabama. He was an excellent soldier and Military Policeman. He served in Germany and Fort Hood, Texas.
In 1989 Gene had a heart attack and died suddenly and unexpectedly. Brett's enlistment was almost up. He got out of the Army a few months early to go home and be with his family, to help his stepmother and his two younger sisters. He was back in Dunseith, North Dakota. This time though, Brett was on his career path. He immediatly went to work as a Rolette County Sheriff's Deputy. He set a goal for himself that in two years he would be hired with a large department somewhere else. He was determined not to remain in Dunseith a day longer then two years.
Of course he reached his goal and was hired with the Portland Police Bureau. There were thousands of applicants that year and Brett ranked 13th on the list. He had to travel to Portland twice during the application process.
Brett was a Portland Police Officer from October 1991 until his death in December 1996. He worked many special details and was recognized for being an outstanding officer. He was assigned to the Gang Enforcement Team-GET at the time of his death.