Posts Tagged ‘JohnJay Portillo’

Texas Speed Trap City Dissolves Police Force

Saturday, September 30th, 2023

Sometimes a ratio is so out of whack that you know something is seriously screwy, such as Hillary Clinton’s 100x return on cattle futures. Such is the case with Coffee City, Texas, which had 50 police officers for a town of 250.

After raking in enough cash from traffic citations to pay a king’s ransom, Coffee City in Henderson County shuttered its police department last week after the mayor criticized the management of the small town’s law enforcement.

Coffee City is a small town on the shores of Lake Palestine on State 155 between Palestine and Tyler. It’s about 110 miles southeast of Dallas.

Mayor Jeff Blackstone published a news release on the city’s website on September 1 explaining the city council’s decision to suspend Chief JohnJay Portillo amid questions about his management of the police force.

“After being informed of the recent allegations against our Chief of Police and the city’s reserve officer programs, the city council and myself felt it necessary for us to place Chief Portillo on a thirty-day suspension,” Blackstone said.

“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.”

The investigation did not last long. Allegations of poor hiring practices by Portillo and numerous concerns about misconduct by officers in the Coffee City Police Department meant the council’s simplest option was to shut it down.

The department had 50 officers for a town of only about 250 people, an extraordinary ratio of one officer for every five residents.

CBS affiliate KHOU reported in late August that the city received more than $1 million in a single year from approximately 5,100 traffic citations, more than any other city of that size.

Speaking of KHOU, here’s their roundup report on Coffee City, where they talk about how a lot of Coffee City officers had problems on other police jobs:

  • “More than half of Coffee City officers had been suspended, demoted, terminated or dishonorably discharged from their previous jobs.”
  • “Their prior discipline ranges from excessive force to public drunkenness, untruthfulness, and association with known criminals. Criminal charges include DWI, theft, aggravated assault, family violence and endangering a child.”
  • Many Coffee City officers worked extra jobs…including the police chief. “Portillo was working security for a Southeast Houston apartment complex. Nearly 200 miles away from Coffee City.” And he demanded that Harris County Constables file charges on people. Indeed, Coffee City officers demanding Harris County constables file charges became a drain on resources.
  • When Portillo applied for the Coffee City job, he failed to mention that he had active warrants in Florida for DWI and failure to appear.
  • “Turns out there are a half dozen full time Coffee City police officers who don’t even work in Coffee City, Texas. Instead they work from home more than three hours and nearly 200 miles away in Houston.” There are some police administrative jobs that can be worked from home, but I can’t imagine a town Coffee City’s size having more than one or two. But that’s because it’s for the warrant division from the speed trap operation. And they’re being paid on “performance based” commission revenue of $150 for each warrant cleared.
  • Are speed trap legal in Texas? Yes, but they’re discouraged, as municipalities and counties are required to remit traffic ticket revenues exceeding 30% of the previous year’s total revenue to the state. It’s unclear whether this was done in the case of Coffee City.