Please describe how your agency is structured

The Office of the Governor’s Public Safety Office (PSO) serves as Texas’s designated State Administering Agency (SAA) for state appropriated funds and federal criminal justice and homeland security grants awarded to Texas intended to improve public safety. PSO’s mission is to promote strategies that improve public safety, support victims of crime, prevent terrorism, and prepare communities for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to Texans.

The Public Safety Office is composed of the following divisions:

• State Justice Programs

•  Federal Justice Programs

• Victim Services

• Homeland Security Terrorism Preparedness

• Border Security

• Crime Stoppers

• Child Sex Trafficking Team

• Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force

• Family Violence Criminal Homicide Prevention Task Force

• Grant Administration Division

Please list the federal and state grants your agency administers.

The Public Safety Office administers the following state and federal grant programs:

State Programs

• ALERRT Law Enforcement Training

• ALERRT Training for First Responders and Telecommunicators

• Active Attack Response Equipment Grant Program

• Body-Worn Camera Grant Program

• Operation Lone Star Grant Program

• Border Zone Fire Departments

• Rifle-Resistant Body Armor Grant Program

• Local Border Security Program

• Border Prosecution Unit

• County Essentials Grant Program

• Crime Stoppers Assistance Fund

• Specialty Courts Grant Program

• County Solutions to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation

• Sexual Assault Evidence Testing Grant Program

• Evidence Testing Grant Program

• District Attorney Testing of Forensic Evidence Grant Program

• First Responder Mental Health Program

• Internet Crimes Against Children Grant Program

• Juvenile Justice & Truancy Prevention Grant Program

•  Bullet-Resistant Components for Law Enforcement Vehicles

• Crime Laboratory Portal Records Grant Program

• Intelligence Technology for Jails and Prisons Contiguous to Texas Anti-Gang Counties

• Meteorological Forecasting

• Peace Officer Mental Health Program

• State Homeland Security Program

• Statewide Emergency Radio Infrastructure

• Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE)-Ready Facilities Program

• Specialized Advocacy for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth

• The Texas Model for Care Coordination

• Bullet-Resistant Shield Grant Program

• Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Program

• Crime Victim Notification Systems Program

• Regional Law Enforcement Training Academy Grant Program

Federal Programs

• State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program

• Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program

• Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement Grant Program

• Byrne State Crisis Intervention Grant Program

• Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program

• Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Grant Program

• Sexual Assault Services Program (SASP)

• STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant

• Victims of Crime Act Grant Program

• Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP)

• Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP)

• Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)

• Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)

• Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Grant Program (CUAS)

• Operation Stonegarden (OPSG)

• FIFA World Cup Grant Program (FWCGP)

Please list your top three current priorities or focus areas.

Preparing Texas

• Preparing for emergencies (Responding to critical incidents, terrorism, and disasters involves proactive planning, ongoing training, and the efficient deployment of resources.)

• Equipping first responders

• First responder mental health

• Law enforcement training

Protecting Texas Communities

• Border security

• Border Prosecution Unit

• Texas Anti-Gang Centers

• Texas Crime Stoppers

Safeguarding Texas Children

• Supporting youth prevention and intervention programs

• Combating child sex trafficking

• Support for child victims of crime

Restoring Texas

• Supporting victims of crime and addressing violence against women by providing resources needed to support healing and restoration.

• SAFE-Ready Facilities

• Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force (SASTF)

• Sexual Violence Prevention Working Group

What is the main thing you would like other NCJA members to know about your agency?

In FY 2024-2025, PSO distributed $1.097 billion to improve public safety in communities across the state. Below are some of the ongoing initiatives supported by these investments.

• Preparing for Emergencies and Equipping First Responders: PSO invested $263 million to support personnel, training, and operational costs associated with law enforcement, first responders, and emergency management and planning. Additionally, more than $214 million in federal and state funds were administered to promote public safety, reduce crime, enhance terrorism preparedness efforts, improve the criminal justice system, and equip officers with necessary equipment.

• Youth Prevention and Intervention: PSO awarded $16.4 million to prioritize the safety of all Texas students to independent school districts, councils of government, nonprofits, and units of local government to support prevention and intervention programs for nearly 200,000 at-risk youth:

• Combating Child Sex Trafficking: The Child Sex Trafficking Team (CSTT) supports Texas communities in protecting children and youth from sexual exploitation; helping the public recognize sexual exploitation in all its forms; recovering victims with protective and empowering collaborative responses; supporting healing of survivors through a variety of trauma-informed and responsive services and supports; and bringing justice for survivors by holding exploiters accountable.

• Victim Services: PSO provided $230 million to programs that contribute to a comprehensive victim assistance network, providing crucial services to speed recovery, aid in the criminal justice process, and address violence against women.

• SAFE-Ready Facilities: These programs include hospital facilities and community-based clinics that are specially trained and equipped to offer forensic medical examinations to sexual assault survivors, allowing more survivors to have access to trauma-informed medical care and a forensic medical examination by a trained sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), especially in rural areas.

• Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force (SASTF): The SASTF was initially established for a period of four years. As a result of Senate Bill 1402 (88R), which was signed into law in 2023, the SASTF is now permanent in the state of Texas. The Task Force is focused on establishing a survivor-centered, trauma-informed, collaborative, and coordinated response to sexual violence experienced by adults and children in Texas. The Task Force submitted 10 policy recommendations to the 89th Legislature focused on promoting survivor safety in their homes, when using public transportation, and in court systems; promoting survivor healing by mandating training for emergency room physicians and physician’s assistants and providing additional time for medical care compensation post-assault; strengthening statewide efforts by mandating Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) Reports be submitted to the SASTF; and focusing on offender accountability by defining consent and further clarifying consent for adult sexual assault cases. These recommendations were passed in two bipartisan bills.

• Sexual Violence Prevention Working Group: Prevention is a critical component of our fight to end sexual violence in Texas. In May 2023, PSO launched a first-of-its-kind statewide sexual violence prevention working group with members from 12 stakeholder agencies including the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Department of Family and Protective Services, the Office of the Attorney General, the Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Military Department, the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas, among others. Over the past two years, this working group has completed an extensive analysis of prevention resources and programming available across Texas, as well as a framework to identify key targets and impact measures for a statewide strategy to prevent sexual violence perpetration. The group will be submitting its findings and recommendations as part of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force 2026 Report to the Texas Legislature.

• Operation Lone Star: Operation Lone Star integrates local law enforcement and DPS with the Texas National Guard and deploys air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high -threat areas to stop Mexican cartels and other criminals from smuggling drugs and people into Texas. 

• Texas Anti-Gang Centers: PSO awarded $110.4 million to the nine Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Centers operating regionally across the state. The TAGs are focused on gang prevention, intervention, suppression, and establishing an interconnected network targeting local, statewide, and transnational criminal organizations. TAG locations include Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen, San Antonio, Tyler, and Waco.