The latest Department of Public Safety news from The Texas Tribune.
While the director of the Department of Public Safety and some state senators argue that X-ray machines and metal detectors are critical in the wake of a shooting at the Capitol, the Governor and others in the Legislature worry that a gamut of security hurdles would make the place unwelcoming to the public. Full Story
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State troopers turned in hundreds of error-riddled crash reports in 2007 and 2008, according to an internal audit by the Department of Public Safety. Full Story
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Thevenot on the abysmally low community college graduation rate and higher ed's coming budgetary winter. Ramshaw on Terri Hodge's guilty plea and hasty exit. Grissom on the Department of Public Safety's use of dreaded federal stimulus funds to plug a hole in the state's border security budget. Hu on the first of the intraparty face-offs in our Primary Color series. Ramsey and Stiles on the congressional candidates with the most money on hand. Ramsey on whether Farouk Shami's accent and name are an obstacle to his election. Aguilar on the fever-tick epidemic overwhelming South Texas. Rapoport on TxDOT's hard road and the State Board of Education's lack of finance expertise. Philpott on how Barack Obama's budget will impact Texas. M. Smith on whether lawyers giving to judges is a good thing. Hamilton on the latest transportation innovations on the drawing board. The best of our best from February 1 to 5, 2010. Full Story
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The Department of Public Safety, which is struggling financially, is planning to use $16 million of the federal stimulus dollars that Gov. Rick Perry begrudgingly accepted to plug a hole in the border security budget. The decision follows a mandate by Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, and House Speaker Joe Straus that state agencies cut 5 percent out of their budgets to meet an anticipated shortfall. Full Story
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Attorney General Greg Abbott has a message for young, hormonal Texans: Sending your BF or GF naughty pics over the phone could be criminal. Full Story
A man entered Sen. Dan Patrick's office, then fired shots outside the Capitol. No injuries have been reported. Full Story
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Twenty percent of the nation's 17,000 human trafficking victims each year come through Texas, and Attorney General Greg Abbott said today the state should take the lead in collaboration among agencies to fight the scourge of modern-day slavery. Full Story
The Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the Texas Department of Public Safety does not have to halt its policy that prevents some legal U.S. residents from getting driver's licenses. Full Story
NBC-5 in Dallas used our data application for a story on red-light cameras. Full Story
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Next time you plan on speeding through an intersection after the signal changes to red, remember this: A camera could be watching. Full Story
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Explore red-light camera intersections across Texas, or drill down to individual intersections to see images, crash figures and citation totals. Full Story
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In 2008, the file at DPS headquarters in Austin still said Scotty Caven III caused the August 2004 car crash that killed him and two others. Officials there had declined to reopen and investigate the case. But his father, UT System regent Scott Caven Jr., wouldn’t take no for an answer. Full Story
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After his son and two others died in a horrific car wreck in 2004, former UT Regent Scott Caven Jr. set out to prove that his namesake, Scotty, wasn't to blame. He eventually persuaded the Texas Department of Public Safety to change its accident report — a rare feat: In the last five years, DPS has changed the final reports in fewer than 1 percent of fatal crash investigations. Full Story
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School district police departments use tasers, pepper spray, dogs and drawn handguns to control crime on campus. But most don't keep data on the incidents, leaving parents no way to track them. Many even refuse to turn over their “use of force” guidelines, saying parting with their policies could create a security threat. Full Story
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The day after DPS warns parents that Mexican cartels are trying to recruit their kids to sell drugs, the agency issues a press release that says DPS efforts are pushing back drugs and preventing them from getting here. Full Story
That warning comes as law enforcement officials report an increase in the number of youth from Mexico and the United States becoming involved in human and drug trafficking. Full Story
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