Private contractor trained DPS helicopter sniper

Via Craft International

The Texas Observer identified a contractor - Craft International - which trained the Department of Public Safety aerial sniper unit who accidentally gunned down two undocumented immigrants while trying to shoot out the tires of a moving pickup. The company features DPS officers receiving sniper training from helicopters in a promotional video on its home page. The Observer's Melissa del Bosque opined that, "Craft’s video glorifies Texas’ DPS sniper program, and makes it look like the troopers are training for a foray into Fallujah instead of keeping the peace in Texas." Their company motto is "Despite what your momma told you ... violence does solve problems." It had been reported earlier this year that DPS had outsourced significant aspects of its border security operation to private contractors, but I hadn't realized before now that extended to sniper training.

RELATED: See a story from Nov. 2010 from the SA Express News and the Texas Tribune analyzing DPS pursuit policies along the border and beyond. "Statewide, DPS chases resulted in 1,300 wrecks, 780 injuries to troopers, other officers, suspects and bystanders, 28 deaths and an estimated $8.4 million in property damage in the past five years." One police pursuit expert concluded of DPS pursuit tactics: "They're crazy." The Express-News/Tribune analysis found that "troopers use aggressive pursuit tactics - including firing guns and setting up roadblocks - that many other law enforcement agencies prohibit." Even so, DPS' pursuit outcomes aren't all that great. "Statewide, more than 30 percent of all DPS chases ended with the suspect eluding officers on foot. Fewer than a quarter of all suspects - both statewide and in Hidalgo County - stopped and surrendered." Foreshadowing the most recent episode, the Express-News/Trib analysis mentioned that, "Troopers also can shoot out a suspect's tires if other methods, such as deploying spike strips, fail to stop the pursuit. Troopers fired their guns during chases nearly 90 times over the past five years, and 14 of those incidents occurred during pursuits in urban areas."