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LCRA public safety chief briefs board on history, roles and accreditation
Summary
Chief Damon Dern told the LCRA board on Sept. 24 that Public Safety secures LCRA infrastructure, enforces laws on LCRA lands and water, assists in emergency response, and maintains Texas Law Enforcement Accreditation status; he outlined staffing, coverage and recent responses to floods and fires.
Damon Dern, chief of LCRA Public Safety, briefed the board Sept. 24 on the department’s origin, mission, structure and recent activities, including flood and fire response and a recent accreditation audit.
“We are here to support LCRA's mission,” Dern said, summarizing the department’s purpose as “protecting the people, assets and interests of LCRA and the natural resources of Texas.” He reviewed the agency’s origin—noting early security work in the 1930s under Claude Shipp and the later reestablishment of an LCRA police function under John Wood in 1979—and described how the department’s responsibilities have evolved.
Dern outlined five primary functions: securing LCRA infrastructure (employees, generating facilities, transmission assets, telecommunications, and dams); enforcing laws on LCRA lands; enforcing laws on LCRA-managed water; protecting environmental resources under LCRA stewardship; and providing emergency response and resilience support to local jurisdictions during disasters. He said Public Safety responded during recent floods in “Burnett, Atlanta and Travis Counties” and has assisted with fires.
Staffing and capabilities described in the presentation included full-time rangers, patrol rangers, ranger investigators, an on-site 24/7 police dispatch and alarm monitoring center, a critical infrastructure protection team, and embedded intelligence analysts who coordinate with the FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety and regional fusion centers. Dern said the agency has 24 full-time rangers (15 designated as patrol rangers) and four ranger investigators; the dispatch center has eight dispatchers and three alarm monitors.
Dern also announced the department’s continued accreditation under the Texas Law Enforcement Accreditation Program (administered by the Texas Police Chiefs Association), a voluntary review the department said it has maintained for 12 years. Dern said the accreditation process includes an annual self-audit and a comprehensive external audit every four years; LCRA recently completed its fourth accreditation cycle.
Dern presented identification wallets and pins to board members as an acknowledgment of their governance role; he clarified the presentation was ceremonial and did not change board authority. The board thanked Public Safety staff for their work and said it would continue to support resourcing for the department.
