Time after time in recent years, I have had good friends who are Rangers retire because there comes a point in their retirement system when they begin losing significant money by not retiring.

By that I mean that a working Ranger with say 30 years experience with DPS begins to lose $400 a month or so over what their retirement would pay over their regular pay.

I don't know of another or a better forum in which to discuss this issue. As prosecutors, we depend on Rangers in so many contexts. I don't think I have to explain the importance of a good Ranger in counties large, medium or small to the readers of this forum.

These early retiring Rangers generally continuing working, either as police chiefs or elected sheriffs or private/corporate security directors.

Out of the six excellent Rangers I have worked with very closely in the past 20 years, only three remain Rangers and one of those is too young to retire. They began losing money as stated above. Of those three who left, one is an elected sheriff, one is about to become a police chief and one is a security director for a company.

Rangers can't retire and then hire back in at DPS without starting at the bottom. They have to go back out on the road as red patchers, and would have to work their way back up to the Rangers.

I think that DPS needs to consider implementing a program like HPD Homicide implemented years ago. In fact, I think it's now department-wide for officers. You get to retire, and begin drawing your retirement benefits, but then you continue to work for a new salary.

Other agencies do this as well. The new salary can either go into the existing account or start a new retirement, depending on the entity.

But the Rangers need to have the ability to take their retirement, and be able to continue working as a Ranger and draw the standard salary as well.

It only makes sense to keep experienced folks fighting crime.

Does anyone else have an opinion or observation about the losses within the Rangers?

After having the opportunity to study a few investigation/reports compiled by different Rangers I eagerly crossed party lines to vote for one another Ranger for county sheriff. My thinking was that the entire SO could learn from the professionalism and thoroughness of the Ranger's approach to law enforcement.

Hire the retired Rangers as DA Investigators.

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Originally posted by JB:
Hire the retired Rangers as DA Investigators.

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Good idea but I think many small and medium town police chief jobs and the private security chief jobs are paying lots more than DA investigator positions in all but a few counties. Plus, the County and District retirement system is not nearly as nice as the state and municipal systems.

I've got friends retiring from civil service municipalities who have worked as police officers about the same time I have who have far better retirement programs than we do.

If you are collecting a retirement check and picking your next job based on salary and retirement benefits, you haven't learned much from life.

I beg to differ, at least in this case. Rangers don't make what they should. As the elite police agency in Texas, they are underpaid compared to many big city detectives, not only in salary but in retirement benefits.

Who can blame a fellow for wanting some financial security in his second career, because although highly rewarding, his first career as a Ranger didn't pay so well.

The problem is that there are more people wanting those upper Ranger positions than there are positions. If you let the old timers stay too long you are going to force the up and coming officers out before their time because they cannot promote within their agency. And, if you think the folks at the top are comparatively under paid, what about those under them?

So for me it is a balancing. Having a 30 year career and then being forced to let another deserving Trooper promote seems about right. And, while it is often tough to watch corporate memory and knowledge walk out the door, we gain a lot by creating an environment that presents opportunity to new officers and at the same time creates a pool of experienced Rangers capable of setting out on new careers in new positions across our State.

Interesting. But good to know that Texas Rangers are still an elite law enforcement organization.

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Originally posted by John Talley:
The problem is that there are more people wanting those upper Ranger positions than there are positions. If you let the old timers stay too long you are going to force the up and coming officers out before their time because they cannot promote within their agency. And, if you think the folks at the top are comparatively under paid, what about those under them?

So for me it is a balancing. Having a 30 year career and then being forced to let another deserving Trooper promote seems about right. And, while it is often tough to watch corporate memory and knowledge walk out the door, we gain a lot by creating an environment that presents opportunity to new officers and at the same time creates a pool of experienced Rangers capable of setting out on new careers in new positions across our State.

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Agree in part. I don't know how old you are, but my most recent Ranger friend to retire is 50. I've been prosecuting for 19 years, so do the math. I'm not ready to retire.

Although his campaign was ultimately ended on a politically incorrect joke, and although I'm not sure he would have been the best Governor, I recall that Clayton Williams advocated expanding the size of the Ranger force for several reasons, not the least of which was the subject of this post.

Mr. Williams also advocated the dispatching of the to be expanded Ranger Companies to various crisis spots across the state.

We have a good new Ranger now in our county who is very dedicated and interested in protecting the public. I'm not short changing him at all, but it just seems a shame to let Podunk, Texas have a Ranger wasting away as police chief instead of attacking some of the ultra-violent criminals that the Rangers currently chase.

I just hired our retired Ranger as the Investigator for the office. I had worked with Otto for almost six years and when the opportunity to hire him came along, I jumped at it. I got the best one!