AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Col. Steve McCraw announced Friday he is retiring as director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, ending a 15-year tenure leading the state’s top law enforcement division.
His retirement comes after more than a year of chatter and speculation in the Texas Capitol surrounding his future with the department.
McCraw began his law enforcement career as a Highway Patrol Trooper before becoming a DPS Narcotics Agent and then a Special Agent with the FBI. His career spanned the nation from Dallas and San Antonio to Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, and Washington, D.C. In 2004, he became the Texas Homeland Security Director before taking over the top job at DPS in 2009.
In recent years, McCraw has drawn scrutiny as he led the Department through a tumultuous period in the fallout of the 2022 Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde. Nearly 100 DPS troopers responded in Uvalde when a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers. Each one is now facing lawsuits for a delayed and disorganized response that allowed the shooter to remain in the classrooms for more than an hour until officers confronted him.
Multiple investigations and grand jury proceedings relating to the law enforcement response are ongoing. McCraw would not comment on the pending litigation against his troopers when Nexstar asked on Tuesday.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.