Nearly a year after the City of Commerce fired police officer William Rhodes Jr. following an investigation into discrepancies in his employment history, City Manager Howdy Lisenbee says the experience has led to changes in how the department evaluates prospective officers.
In an interview Thursday with 88.9 KETR, Lisenbee discussed the circumstances surrounding Rhodes' hiring and termination, the subsequent criminal investigation, and the steps Commerce has taken to strengthen its background-check procedures.
Rhodes was hired in 2025 despite concerns surrounding a widely circulated video of a traffic stop during his previous employment in Oklahoma. Commerce officials acknowledged reviewing the video before hiring him but believed he could benefit from additional training and mentorship.
Questions about Rhodes' employment history later prompted an administrative investigation. The city terminated his employment on November 25, 2025, and referred the matter for criminal investigation.
Lisenbee told KETR that the investigation centered on approximately three weeks of employment Rhodes had omitted from his application. According to Lisenbee, Rhodes briefly left one Oklahoma law enforcement agency to work for another before returning to his original employer.
The omission was not discovered during Commerce's initial background investigation, which relied on telephone conversations with Rhodes' former Oklahoma employers rather than a review of their complete personnel records.
Lisenbee said the discrepancy raised concerns about Rhodes' credibility and ultimately resulted in a perjury case.
Would Commerce make the same hiring decision today?
Asked whether he would approve Rhodes' hiring again, knowing what he knows now, Lisenbee was unequivocal.
"I was wrong," he said. "This was clearly a strikeout, and we regret it. But we own it, we learn from it, and we do better next time."
Lisenbee also described changes to the department's hiring procedures. At the time Rhodes was hired, he said, Commerce had no officers holding the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement background-investigator certification he discussed in the interview. The department now has two.
He also said the city intends to examine original employment records when considering future applicants with out-of-state law enforcement experience.
The conversation extended beyond the particulars of Rhodes' case to questions about second chances, public trust and the standards communities should expect of the people entrusted with police authority.
KETR asked Lisenbee whether law enforcement applicants should be held to a different standard than other municipal employees, given the extraordinary authority police officers exercise over members of the public.
Lisenbee agreed that a higher standard is appropriate and discussed how the city's approach to hiring has evolved.
The full 13-minute conversation includes Lisenbee's explanation of what the original background investigation missed, why he supported hiring Rhodes despite the earlier traffic-stop video, what the city has changed since his termination, and how he responds to residents who question whether Commerce is adequately screening its police officers.
