The latest department of public safety news from The Texas Tribune.
Two days of unruly protests at the Texas Capitol in May left graffiti on the historic building and cuts and bruises on state police officers. Since then, the Texas Department of Public Safety has spent the summer naming and arresting suspects, the majority of whom are accused of misdemeanors. Full Story
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This year's prevalent and ongoing protests against police brutality have sparked calls for the Rangers' name to be stricken from the modern-day Texas Department of Public Safety investigative agency, North Texas’ Major League Baseball team and college mascots. Full Story
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Saturday marked another night of demonstrations against police brutality in Austin, but tensions were heightened because of last week's shooting death of Garrett Foster, a 28-year-old protester, by a man who has not been charged. Full Story
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The Texas Legislature is supposed to convene in January — and would ordinarily be holding public hearings on various issues between now and then. That begs a question: Is there a safe way to open the Texas Capitol to lawmakers and the public? Full Story
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Starting Friday, road and air travelers entering Texas from Louisiana will no longer have to self-quarantine for 14 days. Full Story
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The physician and nursing home medical director who prescribed the drug is a campaign surrogate for President Donald Trump. Full Story
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"It's clear to me that we may not be achieving the level of compliance that is needed," Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Public Safety said last week that it would not perform testing to distinguish between hemp and marijuana in misdemeanor cases. Full Story
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As the governor latches on to violent incidents to criticize Austin city leaders, people experiencing homelessness say he's painting them with too broad of a brush. Full Story
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The Texas governor said DPS will place additional patrols within two blocks of state buildings downtown and around the University of Texas. Full Story
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The man had told a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper that his truck contained hemp, not weed. He was released from detention after a federal crime lab tested the cargo. Full Story
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After Texas legalized hemp and threw marijuana prosecution into chaos last year, prosecutors filed far fewer criminal charges, police departments paid for private testing and public crime labs were struggling to catch up. Full Story
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The document says that the envelope had Nevárez's official House seal and held “four small clear baggies” containing a substance found to include cocaine. Full Story
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The governor's decision to force homeless people from under state overpasses drew the ire of city leaders and homelessness experts, who criticized Abbott's "fear-based approach." Full Story
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The Texas Department of Public Safety received a request for the information earlier this month but has taken no action. Full Story
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The DPS officers' association sued the agency over a new policy to measure a trooper's physical readiness for the job not only by fitness tests, but by waist size. Thursday, the Public Safety Commission decided the policy is scientifically sound. Full Story
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The governor's executive orders after shootings in El Paso and West Texas are meant to address gun violence without gun control. But a Department of Public Safety network he tapped says it needs more resources — and is remaining mum on how it operates. Full Story
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Community members can report a potential threat to iWatchTexas via an app, online or over the phone. The resource launched last year, shortly after the shooting at Santa Fe High School. Full Story
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In hopes to provide quicker service, over 90 of DPS' 229 offices — including every mega center and "severely crowded" office — will become fully staffed, while another 100 will receive smaller personnel boosts. Full Story
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More than 600,000 Texans will immediately be eligible to have their driver's licenses reinstated after the program's Sept. 1 repeal. The system was widely criticized for adding additional annual fees on top of the price of tickets, but all pending surcharges will soon be waived. Full Story
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