Bangs Fires Police Chief Amid Misconduct Allegations

BANGS – After nearly seven years of serving as Chief of Police for the Bangs Police Department, Chief Jose Camarillo was terminated.

According to Mayor Rick Phelps, the city council voted unanimously to fire Camarillo after receiving multiple complaints regarding his behavior as chief.

The grievances included:

• failing to respond to calls
• not logging evidence into an evidence locker at city hall
• not locking the police department's guns in an appropriate locker
• choosing to not wear a bulletproof vest or a body camera

“There were several complaints and I can’t go into what they are but there were some complaints regarding not making reports, not wearing city issued equipment, and making false statements, and it just came to a point we had the right people in the right places and at this point I didn’t feel like we did," said Phelps. 

After letting Camarillo go, the City of Bangs officially has no police force. Previous reports indicated that two patrol officers resigned earlier this year, and Camarillo was on medical leave since August. This means that the city has been without an active-duty officer for a month.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Brownwood Police Department have patrolled Bangs during this time, and Mayor Phelps confirmed the city is looking to hire two new officers and a chief.

“Right now we have applications out all over the state and we are actually interviewing a candidate next week," said Phelps.