Aledo’s new police department started patrolling January 26.
Tanya Babbar
ALEDO
Some drivers who speed through Aledo have learned the hard way that the small city in Parker County now has its own police force.
In just two months since the new chief and her five officers were sworn in, the Aledo Police Department has pulled over 120 drivers for speeding or running stop signs. At least one driver was clocked at a traffic circle coming into town going 113 mph in a 40 mph zone.
For now, the new department has been issuing more warnings than tickets. Chief Carol Riddle reported to the Aledo City Council last week that her officers had written just under 40 citations so far.
“The purpose of traffic enforcement is to change someone’s behavior,” Riddle said.
Speeds captured at the traffic circle in Aledo Dec. 2025 to Jan. 2026 southbound. Tanya Babbar 
Speeds captured in Aledo at the traffic circle Dec. 2025 to Jan. 2026 northbound. Tanya Babbar
Before the city had a police department, it contracted with the Parker County Sheriff’s Office for patrolling. But Riddle, who previously spent over two decades with the Arlington Police Department, said the growing city needed its own force. Aledo has about 7,000 residents, up 37% since 2020.
Hundreds of new homes are being built on Walsh Ranch Parkway in Aledo, Texas, on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Madeleine Cook mcook@star-telegram.com
The department patrols Aledo proper — an area covering 2.5-square miles — from 6 a.m to 6 p.m, Riddle said. The department’s five officers range in experience from one year to decades. A sixth officer will join the department April 8.
Riddle told City Council she plans to request funding in the next budget cycle for additional officers. The department will be able to patrol 24/7 once it reaches eight officers, she added.
Traffic violations aren’t the only thing the department has been catching.
As of last week, Aledo officers have made nine arrests, one being a felony. The department has received reports of 28 offenses so far, six of which were assaults and 22 were non-violent offenses.
Several offenses were related to fraud, forgery and identity theft. Riddle said the department has served 10 subpoenas related to financial crimes and fraud since late January.
The police department has received a little over 340 calls for service.
The Police Department’s budget was set at $1.1 million for fiscal year 2025-26, making it the most funded department within the city. Over $560,000 of the police budget is dedicated to salaries, with $20,000 set for overtime.
Aledo has a relatively low rate of violent crime, Riddle said. The department’s primary task is traffic enforcement — something that Riddle believes has been historically under-enforced. Riddle knows her department’s new traffic enforcement regime has drawn some ire with residents on Facebook, but she said she accepts the frustration as a customary growing pain.
“There are residents now that are complaining on Facebook that we’re just out writing all the mom’s tickets that are rolling through stop signs and not coming to a complete stop,” Riddle said. “The whole purpose of traffic enforcement is to change somebody’s behavior, and we’re not always writing tickets. We do give warnings here. That is something we firmly believe in, officer discretion and warnings.
“If we write somebody a citation for speeding in a school zone, the whole purpose is to get them to slow down so they don’t hit a kid that’s running across the street in a school zone,” she said, adding that numerous kids ride electric bikes around Aledo.
Not all feedback has been negative. Riddle said department started a program called “Review the Blue,” which allows residents to review their encounter with officers 24 hours after a traffic stop.
Three people who took the surveys after getting tickets wrote a comment. Riddle said all three noted the officer who stopped them was professional.
“Officer was kind, fair, and handled the situation professionally,” one comment read.
Riddle said the department has received complaints from residents about certain streets or neighborhoods where they are concerned about speeding and running stop signs.
Those complaints, Riddle said, have led her to direct officers to those neighborhoods.
‘It’s not going to be a cakewalk’
Riddle joined Arlington police in 2000 as a patrol officer and rose through the ranks to undercover work, leading a DWI unit, managing the Youth Services Division, commanding SWAT and serving as deputy chief. In 2021, she was appointed assistant chief of police at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, where she was promoted to chief in 2024.
Before Aledo could start its own police department, it had to demonstrate to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement the need for a force and ability to fund it without a hefty tax hike.
Aledo voters approved a tax rate of about 36 cents per $100 of valuation — representing a 3.5 cent decrease from the previous year.
Answering calls for serving and patrolling is simple, Riddle said. Keeping up with state requirements and wearing multiple hats is a bit more challenging, including sex offender compliance, hiring and training the small crew of officers.
“Coming from a large agency (in Arlington) … we had people that did all kinds of stuff,” she said. “I had somebody that oversaw training. I had somebody that kept up with firearms.”
But the opportunity to be part of a small department, where residents can reach the chief by phone, drew Riddle and her officers to the job, she said. So did the ability to be part of building a department from the ground up, despite its challenges.
“I was very honest with each one of (the officers),” Riddle said. “I told them that we are going to be tripping and crawling our way through this. That it’s not going to be a cakewalk when they first get here … and every single one of them said, ‘Chief, I understand.’”