Still Talking to Chief Gregory: An Update on Trinidad PD and the Side You May Be Missing

I am seeing a lot of friction and hate on both sides of the aisle in Trinidad. As someone caught in the middle and seeing both sides, I can publicly attest that this is an incredibly stressful situation for everyone involved.

There are misconceptions about what I do and why I do it. I am not a journalist. I am not a reporter. I am a consultant. There is a section at the bottom of this article that explains more about that, for readers who want it. The context most relevant up front is this. Trinidad Police Chief Charles Gregory publicly endorsed my work on March 18, 2026.

"I truly appreciate you coming out, being part of the meeting, and taking the time to share your experience. It means more than you probably realize to see people show up, stay engaged, and care enough to speak on the future of our community. I also want to thank you for your kind words. My goal, and the goal of every officer here, is simple: we want people to feel welcome, safe, and respected when they come to Trinidad. Whether it's your first meeting or your fiftieth, you should feel like you belong in the conversation. What you said about having tough conversations without taking things personally really stuck. That's not always easy, especially in a small town where people are passionate and deeply invested, but it's necessary. Growth doesn't happen without a little discomfort, and respectful dialogue is how we get there together."

Chief Charles Gregory, Trinidad Police Department, March 18, 2026

At the time of that endorsement, Trinidad was actively facing high amounts of political tension over matters not even related to the water. That deeper story is something the public has not yet fully seen. The endorsement was made after I attended my first Trinidad city council meeting and was able to reset the mindset of the room. It seemed like the entire city supported what I was doing. I could call anyone and have a conversation, even Dan Pass and Jerry Bannister.

I have been active in the Cedar Creek Lake area since February with Seven Points and Tool. I have made a lot of connections over the last few months, nearly all of which have been incredibly stressed and/or emotional in some way due to the recent events.

I have also had recent conversations with people across the city on every side of what is happening, including elected officials, the police chief, officers, and current and former city employees and contractors. The common theme among them all is stress and uncertainty.

The Day of Winston Otto Noles's Arrest

On May 12, I drove very quickly from Corsicana to Trinidad to try to prevent the arrest of Winston Otto Noles. Let's just say I made it to Trinidad City Hall before the Police Chief did. However, by the time I showed up, Otto was already being put in the back of the squad car, and the arresting officer had no patience left for me. My goal was to prevent Trinidad from walking itself into a second lawsuit. I failed.

I have been involved in this story in every direction since. I have spoken with Otto's federal civil rights attorney, Brandon J. Grable of Grable PLLC in San Antonio, who filed Otto's federal complaint on May 14 against Chief Gregory, Sergeant Robert McCumsey, Officer Cameron Beckham, Malakoff Officer Derrick Hocutt, and the City of Trinidad. I voluntarily agreed to serve process on the defendants in that case at no cost to Otto's counsel. I did it because I believe the case has merit and because the alternative was a constable, a sheriff's deputy, or a stranger handing them the papers in an uncomfortable situation. As of this writing, all five defendants have been served. Chief Gregory was the last. I served him in person at 1:45 PM today, May 26, after we agreed over the weekend to meet once he was back in town.

I am disclosing service here because transparency is important. I wanted to help keep this from being any harder than it had to be for everyone involved.

Where the Larger Story Stands

In the last week, this story has moved very quickly.

On May 19, Jennifer Combs filed her own federal civil rights lawsuit against Chief Gregory, Officer Cameron Beckham, Councilwoman Marie Bannister, and the City of Trinidad. On May 20, David Sentendrey with Fox 4 in Dallas broke the Combs arrest story into mainstream coverage, including an interview with Mayor Dennis Haws in which the Mayor said, on the record, that the city's water situation is "a struggle, without question" and that the original water pipes were installed in the 1950s. On May 21, the Henderson County Grand Jury declined to indict Jennifer Combs on the felony false alarm or report charge. The same day, the disorderly conduct citation against Otto Noles was also dismissed.

Two arrests. Two cases. Two dismissals. Two federal civil rights lawsuits filed within five days of each other against the same police department.

CJ Grisham and Ryan Franceschina, the two partners at GFA LAW, PLLC, are representing Jennifer Combs in her federal case. They are now coordinating with Consumer Wellness Center Labs of Cedar Creek to provide free independent water testing to Trinidad residents who live within the city water system. Residents who want a test can email [email protected] with their address and a contact number. Identities will be kept confidential unless the resident gives explicit permission. This is the kind of community work I always hoped would emerge from this situation, and I am grateful to see it happening, regardless of who organized it.

I am also encouraged to see that open discussion about Trinidad water has resumed in the Facebook group called "Beware of Trinidad Texas Water." Residents are sharing photos, asking questions, comparing experiences, and posting infrastructure observations. This is the kind of discourse that should never have been chilled in the first place.

What People Need to Stop Doing

The Henderson County Sheriff's Office posted a public statement on May 23 that I would like every reader of this article to take seriously. Henderson County dispatchers and 911 operators are being flooded with calls and verbal abuse from people upset about decisions made by the Trinidad Police Department. The Henderson County Sheriff's Office is not the Trinidad Police Department. Their 911 dispatchers do not control what the Trinidad Police Chief does. When you tie up those phone lines with calls of frustration over Trinidad's choices, you are blocking calls from people who need actual emergency help.

Please stop. This is not how we hold Trinidad accountable. This is how we hurt the people of Henderson County while we are trying to help the people of Trinidad.

I will also say this directly, regardless of which side of this you stand on. Please stop directing comments at the families of Trinidad police officers. The spouses, children, and parents of those officers did not vote on any of this. They are not on the agenda for Thursday. Aiming at them is not accountability. It is harassment, and it makes the actual case for accountability harder for the people who have been doing this work for months.

On Chief Gregory

I want to say a few things about Chief Gregory directly.

I am not excusing the decisions that have brought us to this point. Two federal civil rights lawsuits, two dismissed cases, and a no-bill from the grand jury are not normal outcomes for a police department that is functioning the way a police department is supposed to function. Those outcomes deserve scrutiny. They will get scrutiny.

What I will also say is that there is more going on in Trinidad than what has appeared on Facebook or in the news. Local political tensions in this city predate the water story and continue to run underneath it. I am not going to detail those tensions in this article. They are real, they matter, and they are part of why I have been here doing this work for as long as I have.

There has been online speculation that Chief Gregory has been hiding from this situation. He has not been. He was out of town last week for training that was scheduled before any of the recent events broke. He returned to Trinidad over the weekend. We spoke by phone. We agreed to meet today. I served him at 1:45 PM. He has not avoided me. He has not stopped talking. Make of that what you will.

Where the Decisions Actually Get Made

Direct your concerns to the voting city councilmembers. They are the ones responsible for these decisions at the end of the day.

The Mayor of Trinidad is not the decision-maker on the items everyone is in uproar about. The Mayor is, by design and by law, the face of the city. He runs the meetings, he represents the city publicly, and he votes only in the case of a tie. Mayor Haws has, in fact, been one of the more publicly measured voices on the water issue in recent weeks. The actions that have created this uproar were taken by the voting city councilmembers. That is where the questions belong, and that is where the answers will come from or fail to come from.

The next Trinidad City Council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 28, at 6:00 PM at Trinidad City Hall, 100 Park Street. The agenda was posted on May 21 at 4:00 PM by City Administrator Sam Dosier.

The agenda confirms what Item 4 calls the visitors and citizens inquiry slot, limited to five minutes per person, on any subject not on the agenda. That is your time. Use it.

The substantive agenda is short and personnel-heavy. After the opening, the council recesses into an executive session under the Texas Open Meetings Act, citing both consultation with the city attorney (Tex. Gov't Code § 551.071) and personnel matters (Tex. Gov't Code § 551.074), to deliberate the future of one specific person by name: Trinidad Municipal Judge Shellena Bivens. Judge Bivens is the same judge who dismissed the disorderly conduct case against Otto Noles on May 21, the same day this very agenda was posted. The very next public action item, Item 7, is to discuss and possibly take action concerning her dismissal or termination.

Items 8 and 9 handle the city's outside legal counsel. Item 8 brings in Flowers Davis PLLC as the new outside counsel for any and all litigation matters. The signature authorization on that contract is notable on its own. The agenda routes it not through Mayor Haws but through Mayor Pro Tem Marie Bannister. Item 9 ends the existing legal services agreement with Clayton B. Gaddis PLLC and directs City Administrator Cynthia Dosier to notify the firm.

Item 10 is the cleanest signal of how the council expects this meeting to go. It appoints Susan Carver as the new municipal judge, but only if Item 7 results in the dismissal of Judge Bivens. The replacement is pre-staged, contingent on the removal vote.

The agenda also includes a notice that members of the Trinidad Economic Development Corporation may attend the same meeting in numbers sufficient to constitute a quorum.

Get Involved

You can be in the room for all of this. You can ask questions on the record. You can ask why the judge who dismissed a city case is on the agenda this week. You can ask why the city is changing its legal counsel right now. You can ask why the contract authorization is routed through the Mayor Pro Tem rather than the Mayor. You can ask about the water. You can ask about anything that concerns you as a resident. The record matters. If you cannot attend in person, watch for the livestream on my Facebook page.

This is going to keep getting harder before it gets easier. I do not have a tidy way to end this article, because the situation does not have a tidy ending yet. What I can tell you is that I am still here, I am still having conversations, and that this story is far bigger than any one Facebook post, any one arrest, or any one news cycle.

I will see you Thursday.

About Watchtower

I do what I do to protect our small Texas cities and to help coax them towards compliance, grants, infrastructure repairs, and growth. These things cannot happen when you have public officials acting like tyrants.

Articles only come when the consulting does not work. I resort to investigative journalism when local advocacy and direct communication break down.

Watchtower was built to help cities navigate these problems without cost to the city or its residents. Everything published on watchtowerci.com is free. No paywalls. No ads. No corporate sponsorship. The work is funded entirely by readers who believe it matters.