A small Texas police department is being shut down after a state investigation found it failed to meet minimum law enforcement standards, mere months after its officers arrested a local mother over a Facebook post criticizing the town’s troubled drinking water.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement notified Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws on September 9 that the city’s license to operate its own police department was being revoked. Investigators determined that the department “failed to meet minimum standards” and “was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community.”
The decision comes after the five-officer department became the center of a national controversy in May, when officers arrested Jennifer Combs and jailed her overnight over a Facebook post concerning Trinidad’s water supply.
Combs had written that she had seen reports that people had been hospitalized after drinking the city’s water. Police charged her with felony false alarm or report, arguing that the post had created “fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.” The charge was later dropped after a Henderson County grand jury declined to indict her.
On April 21, the city issued a notice advising residents to boil their water to “avoid harmful bacteria,” according to reporting on the dispute. A separate investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality subsequently found problems with Trinidad’s water supply, which city officials have said they intend to address.
The department’s handling of the controversy soon generated additional scrutiny. The day after Combs’ arrest, police arrested Winston Noles after he stood outside City Hall holding a sign criticizing the police. Noles was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. That charge was also later dropped.
Police Chief Charles Gregory, who defended Combs’ arrest and called the case against her “cut and dry,” resigned in June, according to the New York Post. He had previously told the Trinidad City Council that he had “nothing to hide” regarding the arrests.
After Gregory’s resignation, the judge who approved the search warrant in Combs’ case questioned the “accuracy, completeness, and reliability” of the information Trinidad officers presented to him.
The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office then announced in August that it would no longer accept cases from the Trinidad Police Department following the controversy and state investigations.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement’s investigation ultimately found problems extending well beyond the arrests. The department lacked 18 required policies, including policies governing professional conduct, use of force, vehicle pursuits, and even active-shooter situations. The state also found that the department could not demonstrate that it provided a public benefit to the community.
Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws said he was not surprised by the state’s decision. “There’s been a lot of neglect through the years,” Haws told Fox 4. “We are moving in a positive direction. We’ve got to get past all of this.”
The department’s law-enforcement responsibilities will be transferred to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office while Trinidad considers a permanent arrangement.
For Combs, however, the state’s decision closes a remarkable chapter that began with a Facebook post about the town’s drinking water. “For months, citizens who questioned this department were dismissed, attacked and in my case arrested,” Combs wrote after the state ordered the department shut down. “We were never the problem. We were exposing it.”
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