PASADENA, Texas – Pasadena Police Chief M.P. Jackson plans to retire from the department at the end of the month, Mayor Thomas Shoenbein announced Wednesday morning.
According to a statement from the mayor’s office provided to KPRC 2 News, Jackson informed Shoenbein of his decision Tuesday.
Jackson’s retirement follows continued scrutiny of the Pasadena Police Department over alleged officer conduct, the handling of an internal investigation involving a former sergeant and conflicting accounts about disciplinary records from the administration.
In a statement, Jackson thanked the department and city leadership for the opportunities he had during his career.
“The Pasadena Police Department has provided me with opportunities for education, training, and personal enrichment which were beyond my expectations. The department members have provided me with a sense of belonging and camaraderie which exceeded any of my prior relationships,” the statement said. “Please know that I appreciate your confidence in my character and abilities and to have served as Chief of Police under your Command.”
Assistant Chief Raul Granados will serve as interim chief. Granados has spent more than two decades with Pasadena police. According to the city, he joined the department in October 2001 and has worked in patrol, narcotics, the Special Response Group and media relations. He became an assistant chief in August 2025.
Jackson’s retirement comes after a series of KPRC 2 News reports involving former Pasadena Sgt. Michael Palitz, who resigned from the department and surrendered his Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) peace officer license following an internal investigation into allegations that he misused Flock cameras.
KPRC 2 News obtained Palitz’s personnel record, which showed that in 2025, the previous police chief recommended an indefinite suspension on a separate matter.
Jackson questioned about Palitz records
During Tuesday’s Pasadena City Council meeting, KPRC 2 News’ Rilwan Balogun approached Jackson about allegations someone in the department altered the previous chief’s files, after the department released a statement questioning KPRC 2 News’ report.
Balogun asked Jackson whether the department would release an arbitration report involving Palitz.
Rilwan Balogun: “The department released a statement last week sort of insinuating our reporting with the former chief was inaccurate. Just checking to see would you all be willing to release the arbitration report on Palitz?”
Chief M.P. Jackson: “There is no arbitration report.”
Balogun then asked whether the matter had been sent back to the civil service commission, the body that oversees police policy and enforcement.
Jackson responded that there had been an agreement but said questions about the agreement should be directed to the city attorney.
The city attorney did not speak with Balogun during the meeting or respond to an email sent Wednesday morning.
When Balogun asked when the agreement was made, Jackson said he did not have the date with him but believed it was sometime in the summer or early fall.
The exchange comes after KPRC 2 News reported conflicting accounts about what happened to the former chief’s original disciplinary recommendation.
Former chief says document recommended indefinite suspension
Former Chief Jerry Wright says he recommended an indefinite suspension for Palitz in March 2025 in connection with an internal investigation over allegations of insubordination and harassment. Wright claims a version of the document later provided by Pasadena police instead reflected a suspension of just 30 days.
“My document indicated clearly an indefinite suspension for the individual and what I saw was it altered to reflect [a] 30-day suspension,” Wright previously told KPRC 2 News. “Without question, that was not the document that I submitted.”
The department argues the disciplinary action was modified through the established legal process after Palitz appealed the original March 2025 discipline.
Wright did not accuse a specific person of changing the document and said he could not say whether the discrepancy was intentional or unintentional.
The Pasadena Police Department has rejected the suggestion that the records were improperly altered.
Conflicting accounts over Civil Service Commission
The handling of the disciplinary record has also produced conflicting accounts about whether Wright’s indefinite suspension recommendation ever reached the civil service commission.
During an interview with KPRC 2 News in June, Civil Service Commission member Jon Mathews said the commission never received an indefinite suspension letter from Wright.
“Nothing ever got sent. We never saw anything,” Mathews said in June. “There was nothing.”
The issue came up again Tuesday when Balogun questioned Pasadena Mayor Thomas Schoenbein about the disciplinary process.
“The indefinite suspension was recommended by the prior chief,” Schoenbein said. “So, the employee under question had the ability to be represented by the civil service. It went back to civil service because he wanted representation. And so, when it came back from civil service, it was their recommendation to go to the 30-day suspension.”
When Balogun asked whether there had been some sort of deal, Schoenbein said there had not.
“No, not at all,” Schoenbein said.
Schoenbein also said the matter remained under pending litigation when Palitz ultimately resigned and surrendered his TCOLE license.
Palitz resigned after investigation involving Flock cameras
The disciplinary dispute involving Wright is separate from the allegations that ultimately led to Palitz’s resignation.
KPRC 2 News previously reported that Palitz was the subject of a 2026 internal investigation involving the department’s Flock Safety license plate reader system.
“Based on what we gathered, [he] was using our camera system, our Flock system, to track and stalk a female officer,” Pasadena City Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero previously told KPRC 2 News.
KPRC 2 News has not independently verified those specific allegations.
The Pasadena police department previously said Palitz resigned while the investigation was ongoing and later told KPRC 2 News that the matter was resolved through an agreement requiring him to surrender his TCOLE peace officer license in lieu of criminal prosecution.
No criminal charges have been reported against Palitz in connection with the allegations.
A permanent surrender of a TCOLE license prevents an individual from holding or obtaining a TCOLE-issued law enforcement license in Texas.
Palitz’s attorney previously declined to comment to KPRC 2 News about the investigation and license surrender.