Covington, Texas
Right around the blinking light at State Highway 171 and FM 67, is the tiny town of Covington, usually off the radar for most folks. However, that has all changed as residents are reportedly living in fear of the police.
"They are scared to death now," said Covington City Council member Marty Smith.
"They lock their doors, they lock the car doors because they are scared of the police."
Many in the town also fear the man behind the police force,
Police Chief Wade Laurence.
"Wade Lawrence asked me what it was going to take to shut me up, and them to arrest me and handcuff me at a council meeting," Smith said.
"I'm 69 years old and I don't need the hassle of it."
It seems the trouble began about a year ago, when Former Covington police officer Kayla Richardson says she discovered
drugs missing from the police evidence locker. She said the only cop who didn't take a lie detector test was Laurence.
She said when nothing was done, she filed a complaint with outside authorities.
"I took this to the Texas Rangers and I also took this to Johnson County and gave it to them and told them what I thought was going on, and told them that people are starting to get threatened," Richardson said.
According to Richardson, with the lack of an investigative body in place, Police Chief Laurence’s bullying began.
"Once he found out that I was the one who told on him, he wanted me gone," she said.
Richardson was fired a month later. The police chief accused her of not showing up to work when she was supposed to.
At a city council meeting last November, Richardson says the chief ordered the arrests of her boyfriend and a former mayor. Richardson’s boyfriend was charged with assault. The ex-mayor was charged with credit card abuse. Both claim it was out of retaliation.
The day after the arrests, former Covington Fire Chief George Burnett gathered more than 60 signatures, nearly 25 percent of Covington residents, petitioning to have the police department disbanded.
That's when Burnett says
he was threatened by the chief.
"The police chief and three other of his other police came down and were raising cane about me getting this petition signed," Burnett said.
"They said I was starting a lot of trouble in town."
But the collected signatures have collected dust. The have never been presented to city council, because no meeting has taken place since November.
When town folks showed up for January's meeting, Mayor Pro-Tem Alan Snider abruptly canceled the meeting, saying he couldn’t get a majority of council members to attend. Yet there stood council members Marty Smith and Rose Diaz, ready to attend.
"I find it very suspicious," said Council Member Rose Diaz.
By nightfall, several residents had gathered out front of city hall and the conversations all turned toward the police chief and his department. Among them was former council member Emma Marbut.
"I was threatened to go to jail by one of the officers when I was on the Council," Marbut said.
"I immediately resigned, because there's one thing I don't need in my life, and that's jail."
"The police have so much power and authority here, they've turned this into a little police state," said Covington resident John Whittington.
"It's almost unbelievable."
And while Chief Laurence oversees a four-man police department in a town of 283 people, the city faces steep fines from the state for a dilapidated and leaking water system fluoride mixing tank.
The Texas Rangers have now opened
a criminal investigation and an upcoming council meeting has been scheduled. .
But some say as long as the chief is in charge, they still live in fear and in hopes that the public will slow down and take notice.
