Since I was a kid I have read and heard the stories of the Texas Rangers.

What is a Texas Ranger?
What duties do they do?
What is there specialty?
What other Law Enforcement(other States)officers would they be the equivalent of?

Texas Rangers are state LEOs, roughly equivalent to the state police detective/investigative division for Texas.

The Rangers primarily handle major state-level criminal investigations, along with overseeing state-level tactical operations and border security.

Similar to what in other states is referred to as a State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), state Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), or state Criminal Investigations Division (CID).


(But somewhat confusingly, the Texas Department of Public Safety recently created a separate CID a few years back, though that is more focused on organized crime like gangs and drugs. So now Texas has two state-level investigative divisions.)

In their early days, before Texas was even part of the US, they were more of a paramilitary force than law enforcement, fighting against hostile Indians.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In their early days, before Texas was even part of the US, they were more of a paramilitary force than law enforcement, fighting against hostile Indians.

this. their 'origin' is steeped in Indian-fighting lore. some real and some exaggerated.

clearing out the hostile areas of Texas (vs. Comanches for instance) both when Texas was a Republic and after statehood makes for some epic encounters and amazing legends.

Battle of Plum Creek:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Plum_Creek

Ben McCulloch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_McCulloch


John Hayes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Coffee_Hays

love this quote:

Samuel Reid, a volunteer from Louisiana, described McCulloch and his ranger company as "men in groups with long beards and mustaches, dressed in every variety of garment, with one exception, the slouched hat, the unmistakable uniform of a Texas ranger, and a brace of pistols around their waists, [who] were occupied drying their blankets, cleaning and fixing their guns, and some employed cooking at different fires, while others were grooming their horses. A rougher-looking set we never saw. They were without tents, and a miserable shed afforded them the only shelter. Captain McCulloch introduced us to his officers and many of his men, who appeared orderly and well-mannered people. But from their rough exterior, it was hard to tell who or what they were. Notwithstanding their ferocious and outlaw look, there were among them doctors and lawyers and many a college graduate."


as mentioned they are now basically a 'State Bureau of Investigation'

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If you ever get to Texas, there is a Ranger Museum located in Waco just near Baylor College, just on the south side of the Brazos River. They have guns and artifacts from the beginning.

There is a small charge and if you go on Tuesday, a few Rangers are in attendance to answer questions for the kids and kids at heart.

Ranger Hamer (the man who shot Bonnie and Clyde) received several guns of the outlaws. They are there at the museum.

Rouge explained it well. Nowadays Rangers are the SBI of the LE world.

Rangers mostly focus on investigating major violent crimes, public corruption cases, and work on cold cases. They also oversee tactical operations and crisis negotiations for DPS.

As Rogue said, Texas DPS also has a CID division who will work organized crime cases.

They get called in to be an impartial investigative authority. Say there is an in-custody death of an inmate in a county jail, the county shouldn’t be the only one to do the investigation so the Rangers will be called in. Or, if there is a criminal investigation of a relative of a high ranking command staff in a police department, then the department needs to bring in the Rangers so it is an impartial investigation.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
So now Texas has two state-level investigative divisions.)

Three when you throw the Texas Attorney Generals Office into the mix. They mostly focus on investigating child support payments, human trafficking, child pornography, Internet crimes against children, election fraud, and Medicaid fraud.

They may also assist a local LE group when asked. For instance, a sheriff in a sparsely populated county may not have the resources for an extensive investigation of a major crime. Rangers can bring in expertise or high tech equipment that wouldn’t normally be a available to alocal LE.

The saying used to be 'One Riot, One Ranger'.

My avatar is a portrait of Leander Harvey McNelly that hangs in the Texas Statehouse. McNelly was a Confederate officer and Texas Ranger captain. He is best remembered for leading the "Special Force", a quasi-military branch of the Texas Rangers that operated in south Texas in 1875–76.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In their early days, before the US was even part of the Texas, they were more of a paramilitary force than law enforcement, fighting against hostile Indians.

FIFY! In honor of JALLEN

One riot, one Ranger.

TMK, they do a lot of liaison work with Federal task forces, and major crimes in rural areas.

Many years ago while I was a U.S. Secret Service agent, I was teamed up with Texas Ranger Stu Dowell
and we worked the crowd during President Ford's visit. I was part of the advance team and Ranger Dowell and I partnered for two weeks prior to and the day of the President's visit to the Dallas area. He was highly professional, and sadly he passed away awhile back. He is now listed on the
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.

quote:

Since I was a kid I have read and heard the stories of the Texas Rangers.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Watch Sugarland Express. Great film

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
In their early days, before the US was even part of the Texas, they were more of a paramilitary force than law enforcement, fighting against hostile Indians.

FIFY! In honor of JALLEN

+1,000

Pretty sure its just Chuck Norris

I don’t know if it’s true.. but a Texas friend of mine once said that if you were not born in Texas you would never be a Ranger. I like the idea but in today’s litigious society, I doubt that’s true.

If you clear away the mythical mystique of a Ranger, they are just another Texas peace officer as listed in Art. 2.12 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. They have no special powers over other Texas peace officers. Actually, a boot municipal police officer has more authority than a Ranger due to having Texas law authority plus their city's municipal code, which is off limits to the Ranger...as if the Ranger would care anyway.

I run into Rangers here and there in my LE career. Many times, they are using our station for an investigation they are doing in the area. As already stated, they are investigators, but are sometimes tasked with other duties. One task is to investigate officer-involved shootings around the state.

My last contact with a Ranger was on a traffic stop. He was zipping through my jurisdiction on his way to training. He had a Texas DPS polo on, and it is possible it may have said "Ranger" on it, but even so, he just looked like a regular Joe. I wouldn't have known he was a Ranger if he hadn't told me.

What I'm trying to say here is that they aren't the Navy SEALS of the LE community. Again, they are Texas investigators with gravitas due to their history.