AUSTIN, Texas — A swearing in ceremony was held Monday for the new director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Colonel Freeman Martin, a former Texas Ranger and deputy director of the DPS, was sworn in by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a change of command ceremony outside the Texas DPS headquarters in Austin.
Martin is replacing Col. Steve McCraw, who announced last summer he was retiring after 15 years.
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Martin was chosen unanimously by the five-member Public Safety Commission as the next director of the DPS. He is the first Texas Ranger in the department’s history to be named director.