‘There was no criminal offense’: Merkel police chief addresses accusation of releasing intoxicated driver
MERKEL, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Merkel Police Department (MPD) was accused last Friday of allowing an intoxicated man to drive away following an interaction with officers. However, in a one-on-one with KTAB/KRBC, Chief of Police Phillip Conklin says perception is key.
A Facebook post featured a picture of the man in question holding a beer and talking with nearby police. While some of these facts were confirmed with Chief Conklin, he the public is missing essential information and the accusations are untrue.
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“There was no criminal offense, the individual was not intoxicated,” Chief Conklin said.
In a move of transparency, Chief Conklin sat down with KTAB/KRBC to discuss the situation, and release body cam footage, going over the footage moment-by-moment to better clarify the situation.
By Chief Conklin’s account, MPD officers responded to an initial call about a property dispute and subsequent illegal dumping. The man who reportedly made the call, Mat Travis, is a member of the Merkel ISD school board. He was photographed and accused by a local Facebook blog page, West Texas Audits, of being intoxicated.
That post states the following:
“It appears as The Merkel Police Department has implemented a new policy allowing only certain citizens to drive under the influence of alcohol, which is illegal in Texas and can lead to serious consequences such as fines and imprisonment according to TX Penal Code Sec. 49.04.Merkel Police Department I would advise you to respond accordingly & show the public the accountability & transparency they deserve after these questionable actions have occurred.”
The author of that post then tagged the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement at the end of the post.
Upon reviewing body cam footage and speaking with his officers, Chief Conklin said it is true that Travis had an alcoholic beverage in hand at one point, however he had not been driving and was on his own property.
“There was a citizen that was there on his own property drinking an alcoholic beverage, which you constitutionally are allowed to do. As a matter of fact, us intervening with that to the extent of not allowing him to do it would be violating his constitutional rights,” explained Chief Conklin.
Travis, as reported by the MPD chief, displayed no signs of intoxication. An officer on the scene said the chief had extensive training in responding to intoxication calls and is an ‘expert on DWI calls’ within the department.
Although Travis can be seen with the beverage while in the street, the officer can be heard asking him to take the drink off the public street and on to his own property, a request in which he immediately complied. Following that interaction, Travis can be seen taking a few more sips before emptying what was left of the beer into the grass. After this point, no other beverages are produced or seen, and the disputes were handled without incident.
“There’s always a misunderstanding when things like this get put out. Especially through social media… Perception is something we can’t control,” Chief Conklin remarked.
Without proper context, Chief Conklin said he understood the Facebook post would make it easy for the public to draw different conclusions and become suspicious of his department’s actions. While MPD cannot control perception, the chief said officers can control their reactions to it, for which he said transparency must be the ultimate policy for local law enforcement if any doubt is present.
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“Obviously, we want to be as transparent as possible with our community, especially when there’s any implications or even suggestion that our officers are doing anything inappropriately… I believe it builds confidence in our community and trust in our department. To make sure we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing, it’s a necessity to keep that confidence alive in our communities,” added Chief Conklin.
The initial disputes were resolved through mutual compliance and without incident or arrest. While the intoxication was never a factor in the actual response, Chief Conklin told KTAB/KRBC he felt a need to address it due to the public concern voiced by his community.
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