Q: brake lights do not work, but running lights, turn signals, and hazards do.

As I was pulling extra wires out of my retired cop car, I shorted or screwed up my brake lights system somehow. The running lights, hazards, and turn signals all function properly, but the brake lights do not work. After extensive examination, I determined that the brake light switch is not in use (there is no harness/all the wires are cut and taped elsewhere). I've run voltage at 100 different spots in the car and still haven't found an answer-- even following the wiring diagram isn't extremely helpful because the stock brake light system is not in use. All the fuses appear to be in good working order. The only way I was able to get my brake lights to activate was using the cruise deactivation switch as a brake light switch which caused the lights to be on when the pedal was released and to turn off when the pedal is pressed. The car is not equipped with cruise control for the record. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

My car has 150000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.