Texas Bond Proposal Would Fund Training for Troopers

A proposed $49.7 million training facility would help prepare state troopers for the driving conditions they face on the job, including high-speed chases and off-road driving, a Texas Department of Public Safety official said.

The Legislature earlier this year agreed to put the bond proposal on the November state ballot. DPS officials say the training would help prevent some of the hundreds of collisions that troopers are involved in each year.

“Driving has been identified as one of the critical skills, just like the use of deadly force,” said Albert Rodriguez, commander of the DPS training academy. “We want to provide the best training in that area, obviously for public safety … (and) for the safety of our officers.”

More than 3,480 DPS officers have been involved in collisions since 2001, according to the department. Forty-three percent of those accidents were preventable, meaning the officer failed to do everything he or she possibly could to prevent it.