Texas State Police

The Texas State Police (TSP) was formed during the administration of Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis on July 22, 1870, to combat crime during the Reconstruction in Texas. The Texas State Police force worked primarily against racially based crimes, and included black police officers, which caused howls of protest from former slave owners. It was dissolved by order of the legislature on 1873 and was subsequently replaced by the newly reincarnated Texas Rangers.

Davis also created the Texas Special Police, the State Guard of Texas, and the "Texas Reserve Militia", which were forerunners of the Texas National Guard.

Among Texas State Police members were Captain Jack Helm of DeWitt County, Texas. He was later killed by John Wesley Hardin during the Sutton–Taylor feud. Another notable member was Leander H. McNelly of the Texas Ranger Division.

Despite the success of the state police, the fact that the force employed African Americans and was controlled by Governor Davis made it unpopular. Some of the state police members certainly deserved criticism. Captain Helm, for instance, was accused of murdering prisoners; he was fired, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Others committed crimes for which the charges were dropped as soon as headquarters was advised. James Davidson, the chief of the state police, embezzled $37,435 and disappeared in 1872.

In September 1870, local citizens of Hill County, Texas refused to cooperate with the TSP in moving against the Kinch West gang; and in December 1870 Hill County citizens blocked the TSP from arresting the killers of a freedmen couple.

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