Overview
- The multi-agency effort brings together DPS troopers, Texas Rangers and local departments to pool investigative resources, run saturated patrols and use aviation and intelligence support.
- State officials said residents should expect an immediate increase in uniformed patrols focused on high-crime areas, though specific neighborhoods were not identified.
- Abbott framed Houston as the pilot for a model he intends to expand statewide, describing goals to identify, monitor and arrest repeat violent offenders.
- The announcement highlighted political crosscurrents as the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it was not invited and Mayor John Whitmire and the Houston police chief were absent.
- Civil-liberties concerns resurfaced given prior DPS deployments in Austin and Dallas that drew criticism for racially targeted stops, even as Abbott noted Houston’s overall crime decline.