The Texas Capitol Police (or properly, Region VII - Capitol of the
Texas Highway Patrol
The Texas Highway Patrol is a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety and is the largest state-level law enforcement agency in the U.S. state of Texas. The patrol's primary duties are enforcement of state traffic laws and commercial moto ...
) provide law enforcement and security for state property within the
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
Capitol Complex. The
Department of Public Safety assumed the responsibilities of the
Capitol Police
Capitol police in the United States are agencies charged with the provision of security police services for various state agencies, but especially state legislatures. Capitol police may function as part of the state police or may be an independe ...
by legislative mandate in 1991.
The previous Capitol Police department was a division of the State Purchasing and General Services Commission. The first DPS Capitol Police recruits graduated from the Training Academy in 1993. The first Capitol Police officers commissioned by DPS were not given the full recruit school training that Highway Patrol recruits received and were not initially eligible to transfer outside of the Capitol Police without first attending a DPS Recruit Academy. This has changed and DPS Capitol is now considered a DPS Region that troopers transfer in and out of in comparison to other regions.
Officers are assigned to one of 4 areas:
*The Capitol Detail, which provides security at the Capitol, Capitol Extension and grounds;
*Police and Security Operations, which provides police patrol and building security at other locations not covered by the Capitol Detail;
*Special Police Operations, which provides criminal investigations, parking administration, research, training and budget management, and communications.
*Protection Detail, which provides protection for high-ranking state officials, such as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House.
See also
*
List of law enforcement agencies in Texas
This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. state of Texas.
According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2008 ''Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,'' the state had 2,795 law enforcement agencies, the most of any ...
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References
External links
Texas DPS - Region VII - Capitol
Specialist police departments of Texas
Capitol police
Organizations based in Austin, Texas