Texas State Police

The Texas State Police were formed during the administration of Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis on July 22, 1870, to combat crime statewide in Texas. It was dissolved April 22, 1873.

Among its members were Sheriff Jack Helms of DeWitt County, Texas, who served as a Captain. He was killed by John Wesley Hardin during the Sutton-Taylor feud. Another notable member was Leander H. McNelly of the Texas Ranger Division. Outlaw William P. Longley claimed to have killed members of the Texas State Police in 1866-1869-even before it came into existence.

Four members of the Texas State Police died as a result of a shootout on March 14, 1873. See [http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=3789] . The Texas State Police was abolished in 1873, but in 1935, the Texas Department of Public Safety was formed to serve as the state police force (The TDPS predecessor was the Texas Ranger Division formed by the Texas Legislature as McNelly's "Special Force of Rangers" and the "Frontier Battalion" in July 1874). Other state agencies, including Texas Parks & Wildlife and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, provide complementary state police services focused on their areas of responsibility. Today, no agency is formally named Texas State Police, but the generic term "state police" is still used to describe state law enforcement officials.

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