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Old 02-15-2020, 09:08 AM   #130
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default The Response of the Texas Department of Public Safety

In light of the 2016 Dallas shooting of law enforcement officers that happened in both the real world and my campaign setting, the incidents around Galveston trigger a strong public reaction, an even stronger reaction within the law enforcement community and are consequently perceived as a political hot-button issue.

The ambush of the prisoner transport at the corner of Broadway Street and 71st Street in Galveston at midnight between Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th of December, 2018, will terrify many cops but has also led to an outpouring of support for Galveston law enforcement and a lot of anger within the law enforcement community. Regardless of whether the attack and the second incident meet the legal standards for acts of terrorism for jurisdictional purposes, rumours within Texas law enforcement are swirling and most cops believe that the two incidents are definitely linked and connected to some dangerous drug cartel and/or terrorist organization.

Politicians, mostly in Texas, but some on the national stage, are falling all over each other to prove how seriously they are taking the deaths of five officers and a paramedic, as well as the critical injuries of several other officers. Reminder for non-US forumites, Sheriffs are elected officials almost everywhere in the United States, including Texas, which makes them both cops and politicians.

That means that Sheriff Henry Trochesset is at the center of a storm of publicity and pressure, made worse for him by the fact that he has to somehow try to conceal any irregularities in the case caused by inexplicable paranormal phenomena and the extracurricular activities of Kessler's people. So Sheriff Trochesset will try to retain as much control over events as he can, but realistically, he will in practical terms be mostly superseded by the absolutely vast law enforcement and investigative resources that the federal government and the state of Texas can bring to bear.

District Attorney Jack Roady in Galveston County can technically claim jurisdiction over all the serious crimes connected to the two incidents and is inclined to support Sheriff Trochesset, but while he is favorably inclined to local interests in Galveston, DA Roady has no idea about the supernatural and won't risk his career by pitting himself against any powerful political forces in Austin or Washington. So while he'd love to prosecute some or all of these cases, the ultimate decision about that will be made by more powerful and influential people than DA Roady.

From what I gather from everything I've ever read on US law enforcement, the natural inclination of most federal agencies with potential jurisdiction over an incident of this magnitude and political importance is to swoop in and take control. However, the feds are hampered in this specific case by the US Attorney to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the person with the authority to resolve federal jurisdictional disputes, is Ryan Patrick, the son of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick.

And while the Patricks are not in perfect political lockstep with Texas Governor Greg Abbot (they are fairly significant rivals for influence within the Republican Party in Texas), all three of them feel very strongly that Texas can handle the investigation of an attack on Texas law enforcement (and by extension, on their sovereignty as a state) without the federal government stepping in to sideline vital Texas institutions. So US Attorney Ryan Patrick will do his political best to back up Governor Abbot and his father, as well as ensure that the federal agencies concerned will be acting in support of Texas law enforcement, not seizing jurisdiction from them.

As a consequence of all of the above, I'm imagining that the Texas Department of Public Safety will be very central to the investigation moving forward.

So I have to make some decisions. First of all, what kind of authority figures will Texas send?

Major Grover Huff, of the Texas Rangers Company A, in whose area of responsibility both incidents are?

Regional Director Jason Taylor of TxDPS Region 2 in Houston, which consists of counties in Southeast Texas?

Chief Chance Collins, the head of the Texas Rangers?

Deputy Director of Law Enforcement Operations Randall Prince of the Texas Department of Public Safety?

All four men are recently promoted to their positions and all have fairly recent stints at headquarters, so they are all somewhat logical choices as the face of the investigation and probably have the trust of Colonel Steven McCraw, Executive Director of the TxDPS.

Of course, McCraw himself might travel to Houston. He's a former FBI agent, so he might be uncomfortable personally taking a strong anti-federal position insisting on the primacy of Texas law enforcement in the case, however. Also, McCraw might have ambitions to higher office in law enforcement, which would require a presidential appointment (such positions as ICE or FBI Director or even Secretary of Homeland Security* would be possible ambitions for him), so McCraw might be inclined to favor federal interests over local political considerations.

Are there any other figures that Austin might send?

What about someone from the headquarter staff of the Texas Rangers, TxDPS or the Texas Governor's Public Safety Office?

Deputy Director Freeman F. Martin of TxDPS Homeland Security Operations springs to mind. He's a long-time Texas Ranger and experienced at being in charge of criminal investigations and wide-ranging law enforcement operations. However, putting him instead of Deputy Director Randy Prince in charge of the Texas response would send a signal that Austin was regarding these incidents as terrorism or at least terrorism-adjacent, instead of as simple criminal acts. This may or may not be what Governor Abbot wants to do.

Obviously, Governor Abbot and Lieutenant-Governor Patrick will make statements aplenty, but even if either or both come to Houston and Galveston, they are unlikely to be personally involved in making investigative decisions. Would there be any senior staffers who might get involved, however?

Also, I'm imagining that the Texas Rangers will send special units from the Special Operations Group (SOG). At minimum, the Texas Rangers will mobilize the SRT of TxDPS Region 2, Southeast Texas, and they might send in the SWAT team from headquarters in Austin, to serve high-risk warrants connected to the case, in light of the perceived risks of armed resistance.**

What else do I need to think about in connection to the Texas response?

*In the real world, there would be actual rumours about him being considered for that position only a few months later.
**The US Marshals will probably mobilize deputy marshals from their own SOG, headquartered a short distance away at Camp Beauregard in Louisiana, and both FBI and ICE will likely send tactical teams, at least regional ones.
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Last edited by Icelander; 02-15-2020 at 09:39 AM.
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