One of the most important changes in Texas government is not happening in an election — but behind closed doors.
The state soon will name a new head of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to replace outgoing director Steven McCraw. His tenure is marked by repeated failures in recent years, notably the mass shooting at an Uvalde elementary school and the $11 billion anti-immigration catastrophe Operation Lone Star.
The incoming public safety director will need to improve the department’s track record. However, the selection process has been secretive and ill-defined. We expect more transparency.
Here are five major issues the department faced in the final years of McCraw’s tenure that we call on the next director to address and rectify.
- Director McCraw has allowed grotesque civil and human rights violations against migrants and landowners under Operation Lone Star.
In July 2023, a DPS agent disclosed that his superiors ordered him to push migrants back into the water. Yet, the state’s investigation failed to hold anyone accountable. Over the following month, DPS agents forcibly separated dozens of families in Maverick County, removing migrant fathers from their children and spouses. One rancher publicly condemned DPS for continuing to arrest migrants on his property without his consent. The Urbina family, who own a pecan farm in Eagle Pass, also engaged in a battle with the state to stop DPS from using their property to erect barbed wire fences and arrest migrants.
- The department failed to protect public safety during the Uvalde shooting.
The Department of Justice found DPS, along with other law enforcement agencies, responsible for "cascading failures" by not adhering to active shooter protocols during the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, which led to the deaths of children and teachers. With nearly 400 officers on site, including 91 from DPS, they waited over an hour to confront the shooter. Police huddled in a hallway while 911 relayed urgent pleas for help from frightened children surrounded by their wounded and dying teachers. McCraw’s post-crisis handling has been marred by inconsistent statements and an avoidance of responsibility.
- Director McCraw consistently misled the public by withholding or providing inaccurate information.
In the summer of 2022, DPS and the Uvalde District Attorney Office refused to release records regarding the Uvalde shooting. They even appealed Public Information Act requests in court to continue to hide them. Additionally, in August 2022, the Texas Tribune fact-checked the number of migrant arrests and fentanyl seizures under Operation Lone Star, forcing DPS to correct some of the data it released.
- The department's actions have contributed to a rise in tragic deaths.
A report from Human Rights Watch revealed that high-speed pursuit fatalities under Operation Lone Star exceed the national average, with DPS agents involved in over two-thirds of all pursuits between March 2021 and July 2023. At least seven of these pursuits resulted in injuries for law enforcement agents as well.
- The department's presence leads to indiscriminate racial profiling and the criminalization of communities of color.
In August 2022, CNN reported that under Operation Lone Star, Latine-majority counties experienced a 55% surge in DPS agents, compared to a mere 7% increase in white-majority counties. This resulted in a quadrupling of citations in Latine-majority areas. That same year, after DPS expanded its presence in Austin to 130 agents, data from the Texas Tribune revealed that eight out of 10 people charged by DPS officers were people of color.
The impending appointment of a new director is a critical moment that demands transparency and public involvement. Given the department’s recent failures, including the Uvalde tragedy and the humanitarian crisis under Operation Lone Star, Texans deserve a leader committed to accountability and real community safety.
We urge the Public Safety Commission to ensure an open hiring process that requires candidates to meaningfully engage with the communities they will serve.
