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Texas police department ordered to close for failing to provide public benefit

77 points · 34 comments · Danhale93

  1. abeppu · · focus · HN ↗
    The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement investigated in response to a specific incident that got national news coverage. One has to wonder if there are other PDs that also are not providing public benefit but just didn't attract attention in this way.

    > The department also failed to provide resources to its officers, including bulletproof vests and an evidence room.

    Of course this will be used to bring back a PD with a bigger budget and more weapons. They may use some of the expanded funds to buy body cams but they won't work.

    1. bluGill · · focus · HN ↗
      The town only has 860 residents. I don't know how they afforded 5 police officers are all, much less how they can afford top expand. I used to live in a county (not city!) of 15,000 people, and the whole county got by on just two sheriffs - calling for help from other nearby cities (in a different county) when there was a big event. Edit: now that I think of it, there was budget for 3 sheriffs - but they only rarely managed to have all 3 positions filled at the same time.

      I don't live in Texas, but my experience in Iowa and MN is that cities need about 10,000 people before having a separate police department is worth the bother. At 500 they pay the sheriff a little extra to run extra patrols down the streets to "provide a presence", but it isn't full time (other than possibly an incentive to have a sheriff live in the city so his car was visible in his driveway when he was off-duty.

      1. cucumber3732842 · · focus · HN ↗
        >I don't know how they afforded 5 police officers are all

        Do they have a state or interstate highway running through? Predating on motorists and commerce that does not vote in their jurisdiction is a tried and true strategy for a "zero cost" police department.

        1. abeppu · · focus · HN ↗
          Also the One Big Beautiful Bill BS funneled funding to local PDs that partner with ICE. Before that Operation Stonegarden was doing something similar supposedly only near borders but IDK if that's been broadening geographically. Texas also has a program (Lonestar) doing the same kind of thing.
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