"Not a shock": Trinidad mayor reacts to shuttering of city's police department

TRINIDAD, Texas - The mayor of Trinidad says he's not surprised to see the local police department shut down by the state, months after controversial arrests brought the small Texas town into a national spotlight.

Trinidad Police Department disbanded

What they're saying:

"It was not a shock. I’m not gonna say that it was."

Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws received a letter from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement last week telling him the state was revoking the city's license to have its own police department.

The Trinidad Police Department employs five full-time officers and several part-time officers.

TCOLE said the Trinidad Police Department "failed to meet minimum standards" and "was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community."

While Haws said he wasn't surprised to see the department shut down, he was surprised by just how many issues the investigation found within the Trinidad Police Department.

The investigation found Trinidad Police didn't have 18 required policies in place, including policies on use of force, vehicle pursuit, professional conduct, and active shooters.

"There’s been a lot of neglect through the years," Haws tells FOX 4's David Sentendrey.

Trinidad will now receive law enforcement support from the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, and Haws says the city will look into getting the city a designated deputy from the sheriff's office.

"We are moving in a positive direction. We’ve got to get past all of this."

Trinidad Police concerns

The backstory:

The Trinidad Police Department has been embroiled in controversy since May, when citizen journalist Jennifer Combs was arrested and charged with a felony after making a Facebook post about the city's water issues.

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 following multiple controversies after saying he had "nothing to hide" regarding Combs and Knowles' arrest at a Trinidad City Council meeting. His final day with the department was June 19. 

Gregory has declined interview requests from FOX 4, citing pending lawsuits.

Following news of Gregory's resignation, the Trinidad judge who approved the search warrant for Combs wrote a scathing letter against him and his police department.

The letter questions "the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of information presented" to him by two Trinidad police officers in relation to Combs' search warrant.

In August, the Henderson County District Attorney's Office announced it would stop taking cases from the department.

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