This Texas town has about 250 people. It has 50 sworn police officers | A 3-part series

KHOU 11's Jeremy Rogalski looked into the Coffee City police department. We've edited the three-part series together.

After these three pieces aired, we had some follow-ups.

Police chief suspended

Mayor said he's 'shocked'

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[thetalkingboard]

Don’t think for one second Coffee City is the only town doing this.

[moltenmetal]

Actual investigative journalism, it does still exist. We need more of it, great job.

[zaraloveskoda]

WOW. This isn’t even my local news channel and I’ve subscribed. I’m so impressed—THIS is honest, hard-hitting, quality journalism. I’m from San Diego, CA, and about to forward this piece to all our local news stations as an example of how they should pursue and present issues to our city.

[fredmac]

How can a tiny town of 250 residents afford to pay all those public servants? One word; corruption.

[rmatthews]

In Arkansas there is a law that limits the percentage of income a town can bring in from traffic violations. If the threshold is exceeded, the town loses its police force. This has happened to several speed trap towns in Arkansas.

[UrbanGardeningWithD.A.Hanks]

I've been the chief conservation officer with CRDRP since I was 26 years old, and I'm 55 now; so just shy of 30 years. This is absolutely despicable behavior, and there is an underlying factor in all of this; it's just a question of what it is. So I'm curious, I wonder how many of these "officers" have MS13 or other gang affiliated tattoos?

[rogersmith]

Would love to see the town's finances and see how they manage to pay for this many cops and their equipment. Clearly a majority of it is coming from an excessive number of traffic tickets.

[jasonpatterson]

Imagine how that chief would treat you if he found out you had a warrant. Crazy to think that the Chief of Police has an active warrant for a 1st degree misdemeanor.

[ThreeHD]

The entire department needs to be investigated

[cll]

Why this hasn't been investigated on a state level and shut completely down passes belief. My son lived in a small Arkansas town (pop. 200) that had seven full-time radar officers on the beat at all times, patrolling a heavily traveled state highway that ran through it. The state put their corrupt asses out of business. No wonder so many people paint entire police departments with the same brush. Shame, shame.

[TjBishop]

I was pulled over in this town and given a speeding ticket. I wasn’t speeding. The cop was very hostile when I told him I wasn’t speeding. So I had to hire a lawyer. The city didn’t ever respond. I try to avoid going thru that town. It’s scary dealing with dirty cops. You just have to get a attorney involved. A lot of these small towns have cops that can’t work anywhere else. The FBI needs to look at all there arrest. This is great reporting. Amazing reporting. Please give follow up as things unfold. Thank you

[NotYourAverageCritic]

Agencies like this one absolutely NEED to be investigated under the RICO act. You can't tell me there isn't corruption within an agency this size, when they're policing such a small town. Fear and intimidation run rampant.

[glennallen]

More investigative journalism like this, please! So much better than the ridiculous celebrity gossip and clickbait garbage that infests modern news.

[JoeyBlogs]

One wonders if this is actually a front for a drug importation and distribution operation. Sounds like either a police officer scrap yard or organised crime operation. FBI should be investigating this. This just doesn't make sense. Stinks of criminality.

[blautens]

A horrible police department, but a great piece of journalism. Well done.

[comeasyouare]

This has been going on for years in many small towns in in Texas. Mostly along routes that see vacation travel. The towns derive their income from traffic violations. I was pulled over for a taillight out. Three patrol cars, and one of them pulling a boat. They search my truck, and gave me a ticket for no taillight, which was not burnt out, and was just lose. I fixed it, but they still gave me a ticket. Just another form of highway robbery.

[phdtobe]

This is some amazing investigative journalism! The team who conducted this work deserve a journalism award!

[jeddyman]

UPDATE: Coffee City Council has terminated the police chief and deactivated the department.
Ladies and gentlemen, we got him

[BirdDogg]

We need more reporting like this nationwide. Good work

[SmokeyChipOatley]

“I believe everybody deserves an opportunity…”

No, sir. You believe every *police officer* deserves an opportunity, or multiple opportunities. One they likely don’t extend to the average citizen.

Departments like this one should be dismantled and charged as criminal organizations.