In an interesting development through the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) request to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), it appears some people may not have taken the state licensing exam to be granted permanent licenses as Peace Officer.

The three people we requesting information on are current and active peace officers in the State of Texas. It may also explain the excessive hours on their Personal Service Report (PSR) from TCOLE; which is public information to anyone who wants to request one.

To start, reviewed the State Legislature for 1983 and on September 1, 1983, it was required that anyone requesting a permanent license to be a peace officer, must pass a licensing exam.

Here is Senate Bill 155, from the 68th Legislative Session (only the pages of importance within the Bill):

Here is the Emergency Rule; which went into effect, soon after the law was passed, to require examination:

The rule, as required by law, mandates licensing exams.

Here is the Adopted Rule for the continuation of process, to mandate licensing exams:

As one can see, the law was passed and effective September 1, 1983. What is represented in another publishing of ours, is proof TCOLE heard and allowed Dallas Security Force to be a certified academy, on or about August 3, 1983.

After September 1, 1983, TCOLE issued an Emergency Rule in December 1983 and in April 1984, the Emergency Rule became the Adopted Rule. This means, the Emergency Rule would no longer be needed and could be rescinded.

In 1994, TCOLE seems to migrate to a electronic database and Dallas Security Force is not approved to be a credited institution in the system.

We are unsure, at this point, why Dallas Security Force was not approved to enter credit for training.

Here is what we do know, there are peace officers, employed today, working with Dallas Security Force training, and we cannot find any permanent licenses being issued. Now, we also have questions about examinations and if they even occurred.

Here is an example, we have received TPIA from TCOLE on multiple people, but recently, we asked about exams for three people. Two work for the Rowlett Police Department and one works for the Grapevine Police Department.

Here is the request and the response:

Here is the F-6, or training record which is submitted to TCOLE for Michael Hamlin:

As one sees, Michael Hamlin took training from November 1983 through January 1984. An Emergency Rule was in place to test, and TCOLE has no record of an examination. The retention of the examinations are a permanent requirement.

Here is another example, for Cruz Hernandez:

During the period of time Cruz Hernandez attended a school, the F6 was no longer a required document; however, one can see by looking at the temporary license, he was granted temporary status on September 11, 1984, and TCOLE has confirmed they do not have a record for a examination.

A third person, which we never requested his documents, beyond his PSR is Jimmy Garcia. We do have his PSR to show the period of time he went to Dallas Security Force.

In the PSR, one can see time with Dallas Security Force from December 1984 through November 1985. There is also a “test” for 400 hours of training on December 17, 2984; however, no examination is in the records of TCOLE.

What we also see, is people who left Dallas Security Force take excessive hours of training between 1990 through 1994. The training is in a lump sum, as if they are attempting to take basic level training; however, the examination is still required and is not on file with TCOLE.

So, what are your thoughts? We believe we knew there was a problem, when we first started looking into the matter.