Hawk Cove, Texas, May 31, 2023. Public safety came first tonight, literally: item A of the nine ordinances the Council approved was the ordinance “REAFFIRMING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE POLICE DEPT., OF THE OFFICE OF CHIEF OF POLICE.” We hold it as Ordinance No. 2023-05-31.8, and it is thorough.
The Council found that the City’s existing ordinances were inadequate, and that this “creates an emergency and/or an exigency” (recitals). Among the things it set out to protect: “preventing any attempt to disband, remove, defund or interfere with City’s police department providing City with these necessary protections” (recitals). The recitals “are hereby found to be true and correct” (§1).
Consequences
For any Council member who “attempts or causes any attempt to prevent, obstruct or interfere with, City’s emergency and police services,” each act “shall be punishable by criminal prosecution and/or civil action pursuant to the laws of the State of Texas, which may include, among others: property liens; fines; fees; or imprisonment” (§8). Section 9 adds a City fine “not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00)” and possible “removal and injunction” in district court (§9). The ordinance does not say what counts as an attempt to defund. We have not found that definition anywhere.
Reporting lines
- The Chief is “the sole administrative authority of and over the Department without the requirement, or reporting, of any of the Police Chief’s actions to the Mayor or Council” (§4).
- That includes protecting the Department’s confidentiality, “including from any public forum, the Mayor and/or Council” (§4(d)).
- “The Police Chief shall not be required or caused to give any information in any public forum or to any person” (§5).
- Repealing any of it takes “the unanimous vote of all five (5) voting members of the Council” (§2).
We are glad the department is protected. Residents with questions about it are welcome to ask them in any public forum, where the ordinance says no one is required to answer.