COFFEE CITY, Texas — After a recent investigation series about policing in Coffee City, Mayor Jeff Blackstone said Wednesday he wants an independent, thorough investigation into the police department and hopes to change the perception of the small East Texas community.
Coffee City Police Chief JohnJay Portillo was suspended by city council during a meeting last Friday.
An investigation led by our sister station in Houston, KHOU 11, showed Portillo grew the department size by four times and routinely hired officers who had been suspended, demoted, terminated, or dishonorably discharged from previous law enforcement jobs. KHOU 11 Investigates also learned that Portillo failed to disclose an active DWI charge out of Florida in 2021 when he was applying to be Coffee City’s police chief.
"I was not pleased whenever I heard the allegations because if they are true then that looks really bad," Blackstone said in an exclusive interview with CBS19. "Our plan right now is just to get to the bottom of this, figure out where things are gonna go from there, and then start rebuilding basically."
The series of reports revealed Coffee City hauled in $1 million in court fines last year, and the city has a police force of 50 officers -- five times the number of officers than any other Texas town of its size.
Blackstone said he wants to shake the reputation the city has for being a speed trap.
"If you look at our ratio of tickets to warnings, warnings are almost double the amount as tickets. We're really trying to get people to slow down but also not monetize that," he said.
When asked about how many officers the city employs, Blackstone said city officials don't know yet.
"We've actually put in a request to get an updated roster. We've not been given that information," he said.
Amid the investigation and while Portillo is suspended, Lt. Lonnie Hicks is in charge of the Coffee City Police Department.
"During this time, we will be investigating this matter internally as well as seeking counsel from an independent investigation firm to validate our findings. Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this issue," Blackstone said in a statement.
Blackstone said he and other city leaders will hold a high standard for the future of the police department.
"It's good for us to have a police department, but we need to have a good police department," Blackstone said.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement said on Wednesday that the agency is conducting an investigation into the Coffee City Police Department, and TCOLE has nothing further to release at this time.
The next Coffee City Council meeting will be next Monday at 6 p.m. and it's open to the public.