Texas Highway Patrol
| Texas Highway Patrol | |
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| Abbreviation | THP/TxDPS |
Texas Highway Patrol Crest
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Texas Highway Patrol Door Seal
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Texas Highway Patrol Badge
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Texas Highway Patrol Patch
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| Motto | Courtesy, Service, Protection |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1929 |
| Preceding agency | Texas Highway Motor Patrol |
| Employees | 7,611 (as of 2004) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Texas, U.S. |
| Size | 261,797 square miles (678,050 km2) |
| Population | 26,448,193 (2013) |
| Legal jurisdiction | State of Texas |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Austin, Texas |
| Troopers | 2,863 (as of 2016) |
| Civilians | 4,174 (as of 2004) |
| Agency executive | Luis Gonzalez |
| Parent agency | Texas Department of Public Safety |
| Regions | 7 |
| Districts | 19 |
| Website | |
| www.txdps.state.tx.us/tle | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
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 vehicle regulation, but it is a fully empowered police agency with authority to enforce criminal law anywhere in the state. Highway patrol troopers are also responsible for patrolling the state Capitol Complex in Austin and providing security to the governor. The current Chief is Lieutenant Colonel Luis Gonzalez.
The highway patrol was founded in 1929 as the Highway Motor Patrol, the first statewide law enforcement agency in Texas since the establishment of the Texas Rangers in 1823, and the first such force to be uniformed and regularly trained. Since 1935, the agency has operated under its current name. Since its inception with just 60 officers, then known as "inspectors", the Texas Highway Patrol has grown to meet the increasing volume of vehicular traffic on Texas roads, modern security threats, and the requirements of twenty-first century policing, currently employing over 2,100 sworn troopers.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and by extension the Highway Patrol, is Texas' de facto state police.
Early law enforcement in Texas began with the establishment of the Texas Rangers in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin. The Rangers were originally formed to protect American settlers from Indian attacks, and over the years transformed into a paramilitary force. Rangers fought in the Texas Revolution, Mexican-American War, and Civil War. They quickly developed an international reputation for their exploits and perceived fearlessness (Mexican soldiers nicknamed them "Texas Devils" for their scouting and fighting abilities). From 1823 to 1845, they were a territorial force made up of volunteers charged with fighting Native Americans, guarding the Mexican border, and capturing thieves, murderers, and other criminals, occasionally by controversial methods. Nonetheless, it was not until the latter stages of the 19th century and the Texas cattle boom that the Rangers took on a law enforcement, rather than frontier militia, role.
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Wikipedia