A month after the Texas Department of Public Safety began patrolling Austin streets, city officials have both praised a drop in violent crime and condemned the operation’s disparate impact on Latino and Black residents. In 2019, Dallas faced the same challenges.
Department of Public Safety
Posted in
Criminal Justice
FBI, Texas authorities search for gunman who killed 5 neighbors in San Jacinto County
In the face of mass shootings in Texas, state leaders have made it easier to access guns.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Law enforcement says no explosives detected after bomb threat called in to state Capitol
The Texas Department of Public Safety did a sweep of Capitol grounds with K-9 dogs and found no explosive devices.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
State troopers will help Austin with police patrols as the city struggles with an officer shortage
Austin officials view the partnership as a stopgap measure as they try to fill the city’s more than 200 police vacancies.
Posted in
Uvalde school shooting
Uvalde families ask to join suit pushing for DPS to release public records
The lawyers for some of the Uvalde families say there is “a compelling need” for records into the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary to be publicly released.
Posted inState Government
Search the newly updated Government Salaries Explorer
The Texas Tribune’s database of Texas state employees’ compensation is updated to represent salaries as of Feb. 1. It includes detailed data for the 113 agencies in state government and positions at each of those agencies.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Uvalde district attorney fights release of public records against wishes of most families
Joining the Texas Department of Public Safety’s fight against the release of records, the district attorney claims the support of every family who lost a child in the 2022 mass shooting. Attorneys representing many of the families refute that claim.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
Aging state vehicle fleet fuels tens of millions in new money requests by agencies
Many state-owned vehicles are aging past the standards for replacement. Early budget drafts signal that lawmakers are considering funding some $237.6 million in requests for new ones.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2023
DPS sent at least 3,000 driver’s licenses to organized crime group targeting Asian Texans
A Chinese crime operation bypassed the password clues of Texas.gov by using stolen identity information to fraudulently obtain replacement driver’s licenses.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Gov. Greg Abbott says most gun crimes involve illegally owned weapons. That’s not true in mass shootings.
Most of the state’s 19 mass shootings over the past six decades were carried out by men who legally possessed firearms, an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found.
