El Paso Police Department (EPPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving El Paso, Texas, United States. As of Fiscal Year 2014, the agency had an annual budget of more than $118 million and employed around 1,300 personnel, including approximately 1,100 officers. Greg Allen was appointed as the EPPD's chief of police in March 2008 and served until his death in January 2023.
History
Early history
The early history of the department is difficult to study. Many older newspaper accounts are inaccurate and documents from before about 1950 were lost in a fire. Newspaper accounts were often heavily exaggerated for local entertainment value or to bolster a "wild west" image for the city to readers in the eastern United States.
The formal establishment date for the department is 1884, but historical references to the department exist before that official date. During this period, the department employed a series of City Marshals who were known to be as rough and wild as the criminals in the frontier town, with shootouts and small scale wars being much more common than today for example in 1881 the "Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight". Some marshals were involved in confrontations out of town including the El Paso Salt War and the Lincoln County War. It was also not unheard of to have local, state and federal law enforcement at odds, including armed confrontations.
In 1889, the police department had its first appointed chief, T.C. Lyons. Lyons had previously served in the Fire Department and was not the typical "rough" character previously known in El Paso law enforcement. His tenure may mark the beginning of the more modern and civilized approach to law enforcement in the city.
20th century
Newspaper accounts show the police starting to use motor vehicles for law enforcement in 1909. Fingerprinting began in 1915. By the 1920s, pictures are available showing some of these advancements. Radar was introduced for speed enforcement in 1955, and the department formed its first SWAT unit in 1972. For a couple years, until 1976, the department had a mounted patrol, the only one in Texas at the time.
In 1946, the department hired its first African American officer (the official website states that four African American veterans were appointed in 1945) However, between that time and the 1970s-1980s, black officers were not allowed to do many of the things other officers could do, including arrests, driving vehicles or writing reports. The current chief, Greg Allen, is the department's first African American chief. The department started actively recruiting women in the 1940s, but none actually served as officers until 1974. However, during this time women actively served as "meter maids" or worked in the jail. Today, several women have achieved high ranks in the police department and the department has hosted the Women in Law Enforcement conference multiple times.
In 1972, the department opened a second station to serve the east side and parts of the lower valley. Growth since then has increased the number of stations to five (not including the central command). In the 1990s and early 2000s, the department has implemented many other advancements, including computers, cameras and non-lethal weapons like the Taser.
Recent history Community policing has been an important goal of the police department in recent years. A 2011 study showed that police officers were spending 75% of their time responding to calls and 25% of their time on administrative work with little time left over for community patrols. Since the study, the department implemented several reforms to free up officer time, including privatized prisoner transport from stations to the jail, a call center for non-urgent reports and changes in the ways officers are called to testify. The goal is for "60-20-20" or 60% of time on reactive work (responding to calls), 20% of time on administrative tasks and 20% of time for community patrols and community involvement.
In 2012, the City Council honored Lt. Charles Harvey for serving in the department for 45 years. Harvey is the longest-serving member of the department and currently presides over the Criminal Investigation Division and Tactical Unit at the Central Regional Command. He told an El Paso Times reporter that he does not plan to retire any time soon.
Despite being near the border with Mexico and across the river from Ciudad Juarez (one of the most violent cities in the western hemisphere), El Paso is a very safe city with low crime. This may be caused by the high immigrant population in the city and the generally immigrant-welcoming environment. El Paso has been in the top three large cities (500,000+ population) with the lowest crime rates since 1997, and took the #1 spot for 2010–2013.
Proposed consolidation with county sheriff's office For years, city officials and officials in the El Paso County government have been discussing a possible consolidation of EPPD with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to reduce costs and improve law enforcement capability in the area. Proponents of this change include current sheriff Richard Wiles, city manager Joyce Wilson and others. Possible methods of consolidation include a Las Vegas style merger with the sheriff in charge of all aspects of policing or a split consolidation with the sheriff in charge of some things and a police chief in charge of others. All El Paso County sheriffs since 1985 have been former EPPD officers, including current Sheriff Wiles, who was formerly EPPD's chief.
Obstacles to consolidation include questions of who would control the metropolitan agency, training levels and the complexity of combining the departments.
As of late 2013, the process of consolidation has not gone forward beyond talks.
In popular culture/media Around 2008, forward e-mails titled "El Paso Police Pinata" or "One cop, three bad guys" were in circulation. The e-mails included graphic and bloody pictures of three men who were apparently shot by a police officer who was standing over them with his firearm. The e-mail claimed that the men came from Ciudad Juarez and attempted to rob an off-duty El Paso Police officer, who killed them all in retaliation. One image is captioned "Do you realize how much the US taxpayer saved by not having to prosecute these worthless thugs?". Internet forum users and bloggers determined that the incident in question likely occurred in Brazil years earlier and certainly did not occur in El Paso.
In 2012, F/X Networks filmed portions of their new show, The Bridge, in El Paso. For one scene, Sheriff Richard Wiles was dressed as an El Paso patrol officer guarding a crime scene. Sheriff Wiles (a former EPPD chief) helped the show's creators with their research so they could more accurately portray law enforcement in Juarez and El Paso.
Specialized units The El Paso Police Department operates a number of specialized units, including:
Regional Operations (Patrol) Criminal Investigations Intelligence Special Traffic Investigations DWI Task Force Canine Unit COMSAR Training Academy Bomb Squad SWAT Dignitary Protection Internal Affairs Special Investigations Group
Patrol divisions Central Regional Command Pebble Hills Regional Command Upper East Regional Command Mission Valley Regional Command Northeast Regional Command Westside Regional Command
Ranks RankInsignia ChiefAssistant ChiefCommanderLieutenantSergeantPatrol Officer (20+ years)Patrol Officer (15–19 years)Patrol Officer (10–14 years)Patrol Officer (5–9 years)Patrol Officer (<5 years)none
Chief of Police history The Chiefs of Police are chronicled up until John E. Scagno in the 1991 Annual Report. The 1991 annual report prepends S. W. Boring and T. B. White as the first and second Chief of Police compared to the 1973 El Paso Police Annual Report.
Last First Start date Finish date Notes 1 Boring Samuel Watson June 9, 1883 technically City Marshal 2 White T. B. August 21, 1885 3 Lyons T. C. August 16, 1889 4 William Caples June 5, 1891 5 Payne J. B. November 17, 1893 6 Milton J. D. August 10, 1894 7 Fink E. M. January 17, 1896 8 Hildebrand H. R. July 16, 1896 name spelled as "Hildebrant" on EPSO's history web page and "Hillebrand" or "Hilderbrand" in some sources; also served as the El Paso County Sheriff. 9 Lockhart C. K. August 10, 1899 10 White James H. August 16, 1901 previously served as El Paso County Sheriff 11 Edwards Peyton J. April 3, 1903 First turn of two as Chief; would serve as El Paso County Sheriff from 1910–1916 before his second turn as Chief. 12 Mitchell W. A. November 8, 1906 13 Campbell George C. January 7, 1909 resigned, unlisted in Annual Reports 13.5 Eyck Will Ten interim (The official start date for Jenkins is January 21 so perhaps Jenkins was also interim chief for a brief while.) 14 Jenkins Benjamin F. January 21, 1909 First turn of two as Chief 15 Davis I. N. March 14, 1912 16 Johnson Don May 4, 1915 17 Zabriski B. J. June 6, 1916 18 Pollock Charles E. October 11, 1917 19 Phoenix P. Harry January 9, 1919 Incorrectly given in Annual Reports as "H. P.". Would die in 1921 by gunfire in the line of duty. 20 Montgomery J. R. July 3, 1919 Middle initial is incorrectly given as "A." in Annual Reports. 21 Edwards Peyton J. December 2, 1920 Second turn of two as Chief 22 Jenkins Benjamin F. December 7, 1922 Second turn of two as Chief 23 Reeder J. D. May 31, 1923 24 Armstrong T. C. October 12, 1925 25 Robey Lawrence T. (This is before Robey's official start date as Chief. Robey may have only been interim Chief on the date given.) August 1, 1928 First of three turns as Chief 26 Lackland Thomas G. June 7, 1937 27 Fitzgerald J. W. January 24, 1938 28 Robey Lawrence T. August 16, 1939 Second of three turns as Chief 29 Drennan Robert D. November 1, 1943 30 Robey Lawrence T. August 16, 1945 Third of three turns as Chief 31 Fitzgerald J. W. December 12, 1948 32 Woolverton W. C. April 14, 1949 33 Vinson W. R. May 1, 1951 34 Risinger John C. October 1, 1953 35 Jones Howard November 16, 1957 36 Horak Charles J. May 1, 1959 37 Chokiski Earl L. November 24, 1965 38 Minnie Robert E. February 25, 1971 38.5 Messer Joseph June 1977 interim 39 Rodriguez William "Bill" E. June 9, 1977 1986 39.5 Messer Joseph August 1986 February 1987 interim 40 Scagno John February 24, 1987 May 1994 40.5 Fluck Henry K. 1994 1995 interim 41 Leach Russ 1995 July 17, 1998 41.5 Grijalva Felix "J. R.", Jr. interim 42 Leon Carlos 1999 August/September 2003 resigned 42.5 Wiles Richard September 17, 2003 July 27, 2004 interim 43 Wiles Richard July 27, 2004 December 26, 2007 retired then successfully ran for El Paso County Sheriff in 2008 43.5 Allen Greg January 11, 2008 March 31, 2008 interim 44 Allen Greg March 31, 2008 January 17, 2023 died in office 44.5 Pacillas Peter February 3, 2023 October 2, 2023 interim 45 Pacillas Peter October 2, 2023 present
Fallen officers Since 1883, 31 municipal officers have died while on duty.