The mayor of Trinidad, Texas, told KDFW-TV earlier this week he wasn’t surprised that the state shut down his city’s police department.
“It was not a shock,” Mayor Dennis Haws told the station. “I’m not gonna say that it was.”
‘There’s been a lot of neglect through the years.’
Haws received a letter from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement last week telling him it was revoking the city’s license to have its own police department, KDFW reported.
The Trinidad Police Department employs five full-time officers and several part-time officers, the station said. The community of only 860 residents sits a little over an hour southeast of Dallas.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement said the police department “failed to meet minimum standards” and “was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community,” KDFW noted.
The state agency’s investigation found that the police department didn’t have 18 required policies in place, including policies on use of force, vehicle pursuit, professional conduct, and active shooters, the station said.
“There’s been a lot of neglect through the years,” Haws noted to KDFW.
Moving forward, Trinidad will receive law enforcement support from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, and the mayor told the station that the city will look into getting a designated deputy from the sheriff’s office.
“We are moving in a positive direction,” Haws added to KDFW. “We’ve got to get past all of this.”
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What’s more, the station noted that the Trinidad Police Department has been mired in controversy since May when citizen journalist Jennifer Combs was arrested and charged with a felony after her Facebook post about the city’s water issues.
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Combs’ post stated she had seen reports that people had been hospitalized after drinking the city’s water. Trinidad Police Chief Charles Gregory responded by saying Combs’ post “creates fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.”
A Henderson County grand jury declined to indict Combs, who has since filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Trinidad and Gregory which alleges she was arrested in “an act of deliberate political retaliation.”
One day after FOX 4’s initial report on Combs, citizen journalist Winston Noles was arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after protesting outside Trinidad City Hall with a sign with expletives targeting “bad cops.” The charge was later dismissed.
Gregory resigned from his position as Trinidad Police Chief after saying at a Trinidad City Council meeting that he had “nothing to hide” in relation to Combs’ and Knowles’ arrests, the station said, adding that Gregory’s final day with the police department was June 19.
KDFW said Gregory, citing pending lawsuits, has declined interview requests with the station.
In addition, the station said the Trinidad judge who approved the search warrant for Combs wrote a letter blasting Gregory and his police department after news of Gregory’s resignation.
The judge’s letter questions “the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of information presented” to him by two Trinidad police officers regarding Combs’ search warrant, KDFW reported.
The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office announced in August it would stop taking cases from the department, the station said.
In regard to the local water issues, the City of Trinidad website contains a boil water notice dated Wednesday saying that “due to low water pressure and low chlorine residual, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Trinidad water system to notify customers who are north of the intersection at Hwy 274 and Old River Rd. to boil their water prior to consumption (e.g., washing hands/face, brushing teeth, drinking, etc). Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions).”
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