State Police in Texas?

[puma guy]

Can't figure where this fits so I'll post it here in Off Topic. A question for law enforcement members. I got my latest issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. The cover story is about game wardens training at NASA. The Warden pictured on the cover has a shoulder patch "STATE POLICE" above Texas Game Warden patch. I know game wardens have authority in the entire state as peace officers and have authority that even exceeds LEO's in some regards, but I've never heard of them being called state police. Some states I know do have state police but we have DPS and Texas Rangers. Is the patch truly indicative of Game Wardens as a Texas state police force? I would post the picture of the cover, but I think it would violate CW.

[jbarn]

One could call all LE at the state level "State Police"

TABC Police
Game Wardens
I think Railroad Police
TCOLE Investigators

Etc

[Obi-Juan]

I think any LEO who is employed by the State of Texas is considered State Police. Like peace officers employed by the State Board of Dental Examiners, game wardens aren't part of a city police force, county sheriff office, etc.

[WildBill]

The Texas State Police was abolished in 1873, but in 1935, the Texas Department of Public Safety was formed to serve as the state police force (the TDPS predecessor was the Texas Ranger Division formed by the Texas Legislature as McNelly's "Special Force of Rangers" and the "Frontier Battalion" in July 1874). Other state agencies, including the Texas Attorney General's Office, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, also provide state police services within their areas of responsibility. Today, no agency is formally named Texas State Police, but the generic term "state police" is still used to describe state law enforcement officials.

[CenTx]

I'm saw a Game Warden in a grey Tahoe that had state police on the back and game warden on the door. It was also a K-9 unit.

[airborned]

The parks department of TPWD has its own law enforcement for the parks. Their jurisdiction encompasses the entire state. Not just the park that they reside in. Its not rare for them to run traffic or mutual aid nearby police in the towns the parks are in. They are not wardens though. Totally different budget and departments. They are good guys I happen to know a bunch them

I'm editing my post because i didn't answer your question lol. The wardens are police officers also. They work for the state of Texas not just a municipality. Therefor in a short answer they are state police just like the park police.

[Chris]

I think it's just been the transition over state level agencies in recent times. TDPS used to have several divisions, so they all had different colored patches, different car door labels, etc. They finally condensed it down to just Highway patrol for everyone. It avoids confusion. In rural areas, a game warden might back up a local deputy on a domestic violence call. It's less hassle if their correct authority is portrayed, rather than a limited scope.