Last April, Copper Canyon’s newly-established police department started off with just one officer, Police Chief Roger Tighe. Now, the department has four officers that Tighe is focused on getting trained for any situation.
“He’s doing an excellent job,” said Mayor Ron Robertson about Tighe. “He’s finding the right people for a small town–officers that want to be part of the community.”
Tighe, who was officially sworn in as chief last May, said he wanted to ensure his tenure gives the new department the best chance to succeed in protecting Copper Canyon and the neighboring areas.
“Being the first chief of a place is great and fantastic, but you don’t want to be remembered as a bad first chief,” he said. “I don’t want to be remembered, personally, but I want people to recognize that the department was set up well.”
Part of that is hiring people he knows are right for the job.
“Everyone that I brought in I had worked with, trained or had a familiar relationship with,” said Tighe. “I didn’t want any unknowns, especially when we’re just getting started.”
Now, the chief’s focus for his officers is getting them prepared for active shooter situations.
“It’s important to have that training because, even if it doesn’t happen here, that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen down the road,” said Tighe. “We’d much rather be able to respond with tactics and training. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what it says on the patch, just that it says police and we’re there to help.”
As far as the big picture, Tighe is working on getting the department accredited by the Texas Police Chief’s Association. It isn’t mandatory, but Tighe believes it will help the department stay up to standard.
“All of our policies and procedures are already based on their best practices,” he said. “So, it’s just a question now of making sure our paperwork is straight before we request to do a contract.”
Tighe is also focused on getting the department to be a 24/7 service, meaning there is an officer from Copper Canyon PD on duty at all times. He would need to hire three more full-time officers for that to happen. In the meantime, he is working on hiring another part-time officer depending on the budget.
Most of the budget was planned by former Mayor Pro-Tem Steve Hill, who created a 10-year plan for the department.
“When we developed the department, so we knew we could afford it in the future, Hill laid out a full 10-year pro forma on the department,” said Robertson. “So, based on conservative growth, we know where the department will be in 10 years, financially.”
Right now, the department only gets about 30-40 calls per month. It focuses more on patrol during working hours and at night. If a call isn’t answered by Copper Canyon, it automatically rings through to the Denton County Sheriff’s Office.
Getting it started
When the Denton County Sheriff’s Office let Copper Canyon know they didn’t have enough officers on contract to help, Robertson knew it was best for the town to create its own department rather than ask neighboring departments to patrol.
Former councilman Rudy Castillo began looking at the process of starting a department in 2022. The council voted to make it happen in 2023.
Robertson was proud to say the town was able to pay for the initial setup for the department in cash, without raising taxes. The town officially swore in Tighe as its first police chief in May, but he was hired in January.
“I was hired and I was still the chief at [Cisco College] because they hadn’t replaced me, so I wasn’t officially chief here, yet,” he said. “So I was the special project administrator or something like that.”
Before the town could submit its application, it had to have all the gear and technology that the new department would need, which had changed since Tighe first started in the police force 26 years ago.
“[The state] really changed how you set up a department,” said Tighe. “Having all the equipment and everything in place before you start, that wasn’t a thing before.”
However, Robertson and the council was prepared for the initial startup, getting permits the year before and finishing up the certifications by July 2024. The council also planned for a building.
“They did a lot of the work that needed to be done here before I even got hired,” said Tighe. “When I showed up, the council members currently on the board did a lot of the legwork and already had everything in place.”
The department is located on Woodland Dr. in a building of its own next to Copper Canyon Town Hall.
“I’m very appreciative and the officers really like the building,” said Tighe. “I was expecting to be operating out of town hall.”
The police page on the Copper Canyon website shows how the department building was built and what it looks like when it was finished.
