Brownwood Police Chief: "elected on a popularity contest"
Victor Cristales / Reporter-News
Brownwood Police Department Police Chief Virgil Cowin, left, talks with Cpl. Troy Carroll on Friday in his office in the Brown County and City of Brownwood Law Enforcement Center. While most cities in the state have an appointed system for choosing their police chief, Cowin is one of only five elected police chiefs in the state.
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Picking Who's in Charge
San Angelo voters to decide whether to ditch police chief election
By Nicole C. Brambila / Scripps West Texas Newspapers
April 30, 2005
Of the five Texas cities that still elect their police chiefs, most have fewer than 20,000 people.
But not San Angelo.
With more than 88,000 people, San Angelo is by far the largest municipality in Texas that still elects its top law enforcer. Voters will decide May 7 whether to scrap the current system and opt for an appointed chief instead.
The practice of electing a chief dates to the late 1800s, when most municipalities elected a marshal. It largely died out with the adoption of city charters by the mid-1900s.
Proponents of an appointed system in Brownwood, Coleman, Stamford, Groves and San Angelo - which still elect their chiefs - contend a change would bring more accountability and expertise to the office.
''You're basically getting elected on a popularity contest ... and that doesn't make you qualified for the job,'' said Brownwood Mayor Bert Massey. ''The mayor and city council are almost without tools to see anything done in the police department.''
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