The Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas, commonly known as the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), is a department of the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...

. The DPS is responsible for statewide

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

and

driver license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...

administration. The Public Safety Commission oversees the DPS. However, under state law, the

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

may assume command of the department during a public disaster, riot, insurrection, formation of a dangerous resistance to enforcement of law, or to perform his constitutional duty to enforce law. The commission's five members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per con ...

, to serve without pay for staggered, six-year terms. The commission formulates plans and policies for enforcing criminal, traffic and safety laws, preventing and detecting crime, apprehending law violators, and educating citizens about laws and public safety. The agency is headquartered at 5805 North Lamar Boulevard in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...

History

In March 1927, the "License and Weight Division" was formed to address the escalating problems of increased traffic, and the continual damages caused by large trucks on the narrow state roads. These new inspector positions were staffed by State Police units equipped with motorcycles, and would enforce motor vehicle laws and regulations. Concurrently, the Texas Rangers would continue to conduct the State's law enforcement investigations. In 1931, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

, Texas and other states created a movement that sought to “reform the administrative machinery, and to reduce the high cost of state government.” The

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful a ...

enrolled Griffenhagen and Associates, “specialists in public administration and finance who had worked on similar projects throughout the United States and Canada, to make a survey and act as consultants.” The firm concluded that Texas’ exceptional geographic size caused the Rangers and the License and Weight Division to struggle in providing adequate enforcement across the entire state. The firm also noted the State Highway Patrol’s inability to enforce felony charges, which burdened the Rangers with excessive enforcement responsibilities, when they were already overworked. Additionally, the firm negatively reported on the state of Texas utilizing the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. N ...

for law enforcement along the border. Recommendations were made to accumulate the necessary finances to create a state law enforcement agency. Four bureaus—Administration, State Police, Rangers, and Fire Prevention—were suggested to be created with the implementation of the new force. The findings of Griffenhagen and Associates were ultimately unpopular across the state, and the

created a committee to conduct its own survey of the State's law enforcement. As a result of the committee findings, on January 24, 1935, Senate Bill 146 was introduced. The bill created a "Department of Public Safety" that housed both the Rangers and the State Highway Patrol within one collective organization. The bill received final approval on February 18, 1935, and was sent to the House before finally reaching a joint committee for final revisions. On May 3, 1935, the final bill was voted on and passed, but without two-thirds approval. On August 10, 1935, the Texas Legislature created the Department of Public Safety, along with 103 other bills. The newly-formed department became the new home for the Texas Rangers, The Highway Patrol, and the crime laboratory. Although Governor James V. Allred created the DPS with the signing of Senate Bill 146, the Legislature was responsible for the selection of three civilians to serve as the "Public Safety Commission." The three selected were: George W. Cottingham, Ernest R. Goens, and Albert Sidney Johnson. Consequently, the trio appointed Captain L.G. Phares as acting director, and Homer Garrison Jr. as assistant director of the new agency. Phares was replaced by Colonel Horace H. Carmichael, who served until his death on September 24, 1938. Homer Garrison Jr. became the third director on September 27, 1938, and continued on as director for nearly 30 years, until his death on May 7, 1968. Garrison made numerous enhancements to the department during his storied career, including improvements to the training curriculum, which was recognized by

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...

, director of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

Divisions

DPS is divided into multiple divisions: * Criminal Investigations * Cyber Security * Driver License * Executive Protection Bureau * Finance * Texas Highway Patrol (State Police) * Information Technology * Infrastructure Operations * Intelligence and Counterterrorism * Law Enforcement Support * Regulatory Services Division *

Texas Ranger Division The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers and also known as ''Los Diablos Tejanos'' (), is an investigative law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in the US state of Texas. It is based in the capital city of Aus ...

* Training Operations Division

Infrastructure Operations Division

The Infrastructure Operations Division oversees facility management, fleet operations, communications, strategy implementation, risk management, project management, asset management, mail operations, printing services, warehousing, supply chain distribution, and procurement for the department.

Criminal Investigations Division

In 2009, the Department of Public Safety created the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) as part of a major restructuring of the department. The CID consists of 700 members, including 573 commissioned officers and 129 civilian support personnel. The CID Assistant Director's Office consists of the assistant director, deputy assistant director, an administrative major, and four civilian support personnel. The CID is divided into four different sections, which are specialized by function: * Gang Section * Drug Section * Special Investigative Section * Investigative Support Section The CID sections work together to prevent, suppress, and solve crime in cooperation with city, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Multi-jurisdictional violations typically investigated by CID include terrorism, gang-related organized crime, illegal drug trafficking, motor vehicle theft, gambling, public corruption, fraud, theft, and counterfeit documents.

Driver License Division

The Driver License Division is responsible for the issuing and revocation of Texas

s and identification cards.

Texas Highway Patrol

The Highway Patrol Division is the unit of the department most frequently seen by citizens. Uniformed troopers of the highway patrol are responsible for enforcing traffic and criminal law, usually in unincorporated areas, and serve as the uniformed Texas

state police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

. Troopers in the Highway Patrol Division also serve a capitol security role, as well as operating the DPS Bike Patrol, Motor Patrol, and Mounted Horse Patrol, all of which serve the Texas Capitol Complex in Austin.

Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division

The Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division (ICT) plays a leading role in the department's goal of combating terrorism and organized crime. ICT manages and operates the Texas Fusion Center, formerly called the Texas Joint Crime Information Center (TXJCIC), which serves as the centerpiece in establishing and maintaining a statewide information sharing network. Through the development, acquisition, analysis and dissemination of criminal intelligence information, the Texas Fusion Center supports criminal investigations across the state on a 24/7 basis. Texas Fusion Center personnel include non-commissioned analytical experts and a small number of commissioned officers. Also participating in the Texas Fusion Center are personnel from various other law enforcement and public safety agencies, such as Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Air and Army National Guard. ICT analysts also work at other regional fusion and intelligence centers located throughout Texas. ICT also oversees security at DPS headquarters and the Texas Capitol Complex, a 46 square block area in downtown Austin. The Capitol Complex includes the State Capitol, state office buildings, parking lots and garages, and private office buildings. Security at the Capitol Complex is the responsibility of ICT's Capitol District, which is charged with protecting state property and buildings, and providing a safe environment for state officials, employees, and the general public. The Capitol District provides total police service within the Capitol Complex, including traffic enforcement, parking enforcement, and criminal investigations.

Texas Rangers

Arguably the most well-known division of the DPS is the Texas Ranger Division, also known as ''Los Diablos Tejanos'' (). The Texas Rangers are responsible for state-level criminal investigations, among other duties. The Texas Ranger Division consists of 166 sworn Rangers.

Mounted Horse Patrol Unit

The unit was established in 2014 to patrol the State Capitol Complex. The MHPU is a component of the THP Division, and functions in coordination with other patrol units within the Capitol Region and other law enforcement agencies. The mission of the MHPU is to enhance our community policing efforts by providing a positive interaction within our community and those visiting the Capitol Complex. Members will also provide a highly visible and effective patrol and security function in suppressing civil disturbances, as well as deterring terrorism and criminal activity.

2010 corruption investigation

* In 2010, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper Mark DeArza, 39, of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, and DPS clerk Lidia Gutierrez, 37, of Galena Park, Texas, were

convicted In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is cons ...

of conspiring to sell Texas driver's licenses to unqualified applicants for a fee after pleading guilty to the charge before United States District Judge

Gray Miller Gray Hampton Miller (born December 9, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education and career Miller attended the United States Merchant Marin ...

. According to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

public record of the case, the

learned through a confidential source of information (CS) that the operator of a

Conoco Conoco Inc. ( ) was an American oil and gas company that operated from 1875 until 2002, when it merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips. Founded by Isaac Elder Blake in 1875 as the "Continental Oil and Transportation Company". Curre ...

station located on Almeda-Genoa Street in

was allegedly selling Texas driver's licenses for a fee. On two separate occasions, first on May 14, 2010, then again on July 26, the CS met with the operator of the gasoline station, and allegedly paid him $3000 for assistance in obtaining a Texas driver's license, and $3500 for assistance with obtaining a

commercial driver's license A commercial driver's license (CDL) is a driver's license required in the United States to operate large and heavy vehicles (including trucks, buses, and trailers) or a vehicle of any size that transports hazardous materials or more than 15 p ...

for a friend. In the first instance, the CS was referred to and met with DeArza at the DPS office on May 17, 2010, and with his assistance and that of Gutierrez, obtained a Texas driver's license which he was unauthorized to receive. In the second instance, the CS sought a commercial driver's license for a friend. The CS allegedly paid $3500 for the arrangements to be made with DeArza and Gutierrez to obtain this driver's license as well. On July 26, 2010, at the gasoline station, the CS received a temporary driver's license personally delivered by DeArza. The CS later received both Texas driver's licenses by United States mail. Maen Bittar, 46, of

, the operator of a

gas station, plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller—admitting collecting fees from individuals, such as

illegal aliens Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

, in amounts of $3000 or more to arrange with DPS employees Mark DeArza, a DPS Trooper, and Lidia Gutierrez, a DPS clerk, to process applications and receive driver's licenses for these unqualified individuals. * In 2010, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper was sentenced to four years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

for depriving multiple motorists of their civil rights, U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas E. Perez announced. Michael Anthony Higgins (March 3, 1967 – April 29, 2010), 42, formerly of the Corpus Christi area, was found guilty on January 13, 2010, by a jury's verdict on all four counts of the indictment of willfully stealing money from motorists he stopped on the highway while working as a trooper. In addition to the four-year

term,

U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...

John D. Rainey ordered Higgins to pay $850 restitution, representing the money he took from the motorists, and will serve a one-year term of supervised release following completion of his prison term. Upon motion of the government, Judge Rainey ordered Higgins, previously released on bond, to be immediately remanded to the custody of the

U.S. Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

. Higgins was prosecuted for stopping motorists who appeared to be of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties form ...

descent and stealing their

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

, usually in amounts of several hundred dollars. As a result of the civilian complaints, DPS, in conjunction with the Texas Rangers, initiated an undercover operation to investigate Higgins. An undercover police officer posed as a civilian of

descent with limited English language ability, and was issued several pre-recorded $100 bills. While being monitored by DPS aerial surveillance, the undercover officer drove past Higgins' duty area in Kleberg County, and was eventually stopped by Higgins. Upon making the traffic stop, Higgins asked the undercover officer for money in his possession, and then took the money behind the passenger side door of his

police cruiser A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols ...

. After Higgins returned bills to the officer, the officer realized that some of the money was missing. Texas Rangers and DPS officers confronted Higgins and, upon inspection of the police cruiser, found two of the pre-recorded $100 bills secreted in the passenger side door pocket, which was next to the area where Higgins had gone to count the money. The case was investigated by the

, Texas Rangers, and Officers of the Texas DPS. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ruben Perez of the U.S. Attorney Office for the Southern District of

, and Trial Attorney Jim Felte from the Civil Rights Division. Not long after being sentenced, Higgins died on April 29, 2010 at the age of 42, while incarcerated in the Coastal Bend Detention Center in

Robstown, Texas Robstown is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Corpus Christi. It was founded about 1906, and was named for Robert Driscoll. The population was 11,487 as of the 2010 census. The Texas State Legislature offici ...

. Complaining of chest pains the night before, Higgins collapsed, and CPR was performed before he was transported by emergency medical services to Calallen Hospital, where he later died. He was pronounced dead at 7:32 a.m.

Organization

The governing body of the Department of Public Safety is the Public Safety Commission, with all members being appointed by the

. The Commission is responsible for appointing the director of the department. The director is assisted in managing the Department by three deputy directors and multiple division chiefs. Most divisions report to the director through one of the three deputy directors. The commission also appoints an inspector general to act as an inspector for the department, and a chief audit executive as part of the internal audit department known as the Chief Auditor's Office, who are both independent of the director. The general counsel acts as the counsel for the commission and the department. * Public Safety Commission ** Director *** Deputy Director - Homeland Security Operations **** Executive Protection Bureau **** Government Relations & Media and Communications Division **** Regional Director, Capitol Region **** Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division **** Training Operations Division *** Deputy Director - Law Enforcement Operations **** Criminal Investigations Division **** Texas Highway Patrol Division **** Texas Rangers Division **** Aviation Operations Division *** Deputy Director - Law Enforcement Services **** Infrastructure Operations Division **** Driver License Division **** Finance Division **** Information Technology Division **** Law Enforcement Support Division **** Regulatory Services Division **** Human Resource Operations Division **** Cyber Security Division ** Chief Auditor's Office ** General Counsel ** Inspector General

Gallery

File:TexasDPSHeadquarters.JPG, Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters File:TexasDPSRegionVIIHQ.JPG, DPS Region VII Headquarters in

Downtown Austin Downtown Austin is the central business district of Austin, Texas. Downtown is located on the north bank of the Colorado River. The approximate borders of Downtown include Lamar Boulevard to the west, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Un ...

References

External links

* *
Texas Penal Code

Texas DPS on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Texas Department Of Public Safety Organizations based in Austin, Texas Safety organizations State agencies of Texas Government agencies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Texas