BANDERA, Texas – The city of Bandera eliminated the majority of its police force during a contentious council meeting Wednesday night.
Dozens of citizens filed into the regularly scheduled meeting to argue a motion to eliminate the city's police chief, lieutenant and sergeant positions.
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"That would be the biggest mistake to get rid of the police department," a resident said.
While a few residents spoke up in favor of the motion, most were staunchly against it, but once council heard all of the comments, council member John Hegemier made a motion to eliminate all three positions.
The motion was seconded by Mayor Pro-Tem Maggie Schumacher and met with yelling from the crowd, "recuse."
Residents called for councilmen Hegemier to recuse himself from the voting process.
Hegemier, who made the initial motion, was arrested and convicted in 2006 for hacking into a woman's email.
The arresting officers in his case were two of the three officers whose jobs he called for during Wednesday's meeting.
Hegemier said the move wasn't personal. "I made a mistake five years ago, but that doesn't mean the infrastructure of the city doesn't need fixing," Hegemier said.
When the one police officer left standing at the Bandera Police Department was then offered the chief's position, he turned it down on principle.
"I know too much about what's going on here and I know the integrity, which side that's on and I'm not going to align myself against them," Sgt. Jim Brantly said.
Current police chief Jim Eigner, whose last day will now be Friday, said he's at peace with the ordeal but remains concerned for the citizens.
"I worry about the citizens. I worry about my men, who, this was their livelihood," Eigner said.
The council's decision was not unanimous. Two of the six members voted against eliminated the three police positions.
The three positions will be officially vacated as of Friday leaving the Bandera Police Department with only one part-time police officer.