You Won’t Believe How Many Law Enforcement Agencies Texas Has

Right off the bat, I can tell you we have more than any other state.

I always thought El Paso was a little "cop heavy" when it came to the number of different agencies that operate here.

Law enforcement is necessary but do we really need a zillion different departments?

In El Paso alone we have EPPD, EPSO, Constables and Border Patrol as well as a police force for each school district, UTEP and EPCC.

Then there are FBI, DEA and Secret Service running around along with Texas Rangers, DPS and military police. Even after all that, I feel like I'm missing someone...

Anyway, that's a lot and I didn't even touch on overlapping cities like Sunland Park, Horizon, Anthony and more. Anthony doubles down since the city straddles Texas AND New Mexico with each having its own officers.

Across the state, it's the same. Different agencies abound and there are a total of over 2700 of them across the lone star state.

According to KXAN, "Hospitals, water districts, charter schools, private universities, and more are allowed to open their own police departments".

The list of organizations that state law allows to create their own police department(s) numbers over 40 according to TCOLE.

By way of comparison, KXAN reported:

California, with 10 million more people, has just over 600 departments. Florida, with about 8 million fewer people than Texas, has just over 330 departments, according to Texas 2036’s report.

Typically, law enforcement agencies work pretty well together.

Sometimes they partner together by design, sometimes they "hook-up" due to circumstance.

However, one such, "arranged", partnership between Austin PD and the Texas DPS was recently ended due to concerns among Austin citizens.