By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-23 22:27:04 | Updated at 2026-09-23 23:11:27
49 minutes ago
A small Texas town, already struggling with water quality, had its police department shut down last week after the arrest of a woman who questioned the safety of the town’s tap water on Facebook.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which establishes standards for trained and ethical law enforcement, revoked the Trinidad Police Department’s authority to appoint police officers in a letter obtained by The Epoch Times.
The agency could not verify that the department “provides public benefit to the community” and listed more than 20 deficiencies, including policies on use of force, professional conduct of officers, and impartial policing, in its audit.
“Based on the inspection team’s findings, the Trinidad Police Department failed to meet minimum standards,” the Sept. 9 letter to Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws stated.
The agency gave the police department until Sept. 18 to sever all officers from the department.
In an email to The Epoch Times, Haws said the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department is now providing police services for the city.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also confirmed in an email to The Epoch Times that the Texas Rangers were investigating the City of Trinidad.
Even as the city grapples with the fallout from losing its police department, it continues to deal with water quality issues, including a recent boil notice.
Trinidad’s website issued a boil-water notice on Sept. 16, and it remained posted as of Sept. 23.
“Due to low water pressure and low chlorine residual, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has required the City of Trinidad water system to notify customers … to boil their water prior to consumption,” the notice said. “Children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers should follow these directions.”
Haws said the boil-water notice applied only to a small area of the town because a break in the water line required repair.
“Regarding the larger picture with the water, we recently contracted with an engineering firm to conduct an initial assessment of our infrastructure so they can develop a long-term plan for upgrading our system,” he said. “We are pursuing grants, loans, and any other potential funding for our upgrades.”
The dissolution of the police department came about five months after the city and police were accused of trying to silence public criticism that began with the felony arrest of Jennifer Combs over her post describing water safety concerns.
After Combs was jailed for 23 hours after posting on her Facebook page, Southern Belle Watch, the story went viral.
In her April post, she said she would send the information she gathered to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of State Health Services, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We are receiving reports of possible water quality issues, including concerns about bacteria and unsafe conditions. We take these reports very seriously and are currently verifying the information,” her April 6 post said.
“If your water is discolored, has sediment, odor, or if you or your family have experienced illness you believe may be related, please reach out.”
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality confirmed to The Epoch Times via email that it had received complaints regarding Trinidad’s water and was investigating.
Commission records showed violations related to the city’s water supply, prompting an April 21 boil-water notice.
‘Sword Against Its People’
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Combs, who has filed a civil rights lawsuit against police and the city, said disbanding the police department was justified given its history.
She said the city’s tap-water problem has been ongoing for decades.
Combs’s arrest sparked an avalanche of legal actions. A citizen who showed up at Trinidad City Hall to protest her arrest was arrested; a municipal judge was ousted; and city workers were fired, sparking lawsuits against the police and city.
Combs said only one of Trinidad’s officers involved in her arrest ever apologized.
“The rest of them feel like I really did something wrong, and that they did the right thing,” she said.
Combs noted that several people who publicly questioned the water or the city’s actions on social media have deleted their posts after criticism from allies of city officials. She wondered whether more of the town’s 800 residents will show up to City Council meetings to voice their concerns now that the police are gone.
In light of her experience, she believes the police department “has been used as a sword against its people.”
Then-Trinidad Police Chief Charles Gregory, who later resigned, doubled down on his assertion that Combs broke the law by “spreading false information” on Facebook.
On May 10, Gregory stated on the Trinidad Police Department’s site: “A thorough investigation was done in regards to the arrest made. It was a very cut and dry case.”
Charges against Combs were later dropped after a Henderson County grand jury declined to indict her in late May.
Combs then filed a civil lawsuit against Gregory, the city, and others for alleged civil rights violations, including free speech violations, false arrest, and retaliation.
According to the complaint filed by her attorney, CJ Grisham, who specializes in First and Second Amendment cases, Combs was charged under a law that makes it illegal to knowingly initiate a false emergency.
“It has no application whatsoever to the act of a journalist sharing community safety information with the public through social media,” the lawsuit stated.
Combs did not fabricate an emergency, summon emergency responders, or trigger evacuations, according to the lawsuit.
Combs’s complaint accuses the city and its agents of weaponizing the law to silence a journalist “who dared to inform her community about serious and credible public safety concerns regarding the municipal water supply.”
Discolored water runs in a tub of a Trinidad, Texas, resident, according to attorneys. Courtesy of Texas attorney CJ Grisham
‘Endless Boil-Water Notice’
Combs said her life still hasn’t returned to normal, although she’s back at her marketing job. She also started a new website, truthoutlaw.com, although Southern Belle Watch still exists.
She’s still bombarded with calls from media and others, receiving between 20 and 100 calls a week depending on what’s happening in Trinidad since she was thrust into the spotlight.
“I guess I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that this can happen to a regular person,” she said. “I was a journalist. But at the end of the day, I’m still a mom; I’m still a grandma; I’m still a wife—and you can get slapped with a felony just because they don’t like what you’re saying.”
The silver lining is she feels people in small towns like Trinidad are learning that “local government works for us, and we don’t work for them.”
Yet she’s concerned about the water woes that continue to plague Trinidad residents.
One positive development is that the city is moving closer to addressing the water problems. This summer, the Economic Development Corporation approved a water infrastructure grant of up to $300,000.
“I’m glad work is starting, but residents still deserve answers, transparency, and a permanent solution, not an endless boil-water notice,” she said.
Grisham told The Epoch Times that dissolving the police department was an unusual move in Texas.
“It’s definitely one of those things that is extraordinary, and especially in Texas, for the [Texas Commission on Law Enforcement] to shut down an entire police department,” he said.
Grisham said the dissolution lends credence to his client’s complaint against the police department. He said the city has sought to dismiss Combs’s claim, but he feels confident the case will continue.
“There are real problems that the police department was neglecting, that the city was neglecting,” he alleged.
