Rogue TX Police Dept. Arrests Woman for Criticizing Town's Water, So State Disbands Entire Dept.
The score: Free Speech, 1; Trinidad, Texas, Police Department, 0.
Months after a citizen was put in jail for a social media post about the community’s water, Trinidad police were notified that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement had revoked all required licenses, effectively shutting down the department, according to KETK-TV.
The state agency investigated the police department in August and found it did not meet minimum standard licenses for the Trinidad Police Department, meaning the agency has effectively been disbanded this week.
The department of five full-time officers and some part-timers “was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community,” the state wrote in its scathing review, according to KDFW-TV.
It said 18 required policies were not in place.
“It was not a shock. I’m not gonna say that it was,” Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws said.
“There’s been a lot of neglect through the years,” Haws added.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office will now cover Trinidad.
The department has been wallowing in controversy since May, when Jennifer Combs was arrested on a felony charge after saying the city’s water could be a health concern.
“We have received reports that some citizens have been hospitalized due to bacteria in the water. This is a serious public health concern that deserves immediate attention. If your water looks discolored, contains sediment, has a strong odor, or you have experienced related health issues, please send us a message. We are gathering information and reporting findings to the state,” the post said in part, according to KDFW-TV.
The department responded in April, saying on social media that Combs spread “false information that creates fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.”
Trinidad Police Chief Charles Gregory defended arresting Combs by saying claims of hospitalizations “are simply false and have only caused unnecessary fear and confusion in our community.”
Combs spent a night in jail, which she called “horrifying.”
“It was probably one of the most humiliating things I’ve ever gone through in my entire life,” she said.
Combs filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Trinidad and Gregory, who has resigned.
After the arrest of Combs was made public, police arrested citizen Winston Noles on a charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct after a protest outside City Hall that used expletives to talk about “bad cops.” The charge was later dismissed.
In August, the Henderson County District Attorney’s Office said it would no longer take cases from Trinidad police.
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