Copper Canyon creating police department

The Copper Canyon Town Council voted last week to create a police department.

The small town has been contracting with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement service, but Mayor Ron Robertson said “it’s time” for the town to have its own PD.

“The county can no longer provide us with the three officers we need,” Robertson said. “The town is growing with big subdivisions and adding a lot of houses, we need more patrolling.”

Robertson said town leaders looked at the budget and realized the town can afford to start its own department for a similar amount of money that it’s been paying DCSO.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” Robertson said. “All the surrounding communities have their own PD. This is not a tax increase, we’re not eating money doing it and we feel we can afford to continue to pay for it in the future.”

Robertson said the town is hoping to launch the department on Oct. 1 with a police chief and one officer. Another officer will be hired soon after, but that won’t give the town 24/7 coverage.

“We have zero crime,” Robertson said. “This is not a 24/7 town, this is not for crime prevention. It’s more about traffic control and neighborhood policing than anything else.”

Robertson said he wants to be able to offer welfare checks and vacation checks for residents to have peace of mind about property crimes while they’re out of town.

“There are a lot of big homes in Copper Canyon, and a lot of people have a lot of stuff here,” he said. “When they go on vacation, they need to feel comfortable that it will be protected.”

The town has hired an architect to design an extension at Copper Canyon Town Hall to house the police department, Robertson said. About 1,500 square feet will be added to house some offices, a safe room and an evidence room. The addition will be funded with federal COVID-19 grant money. The town has already bought police vehicles and is in the process of getting them outfitted and ready for use by Oct. 1. Robertson said the town is in talks with a police chief candidate, and it will begin advertising police officer jobs soon.