Survey shows Texas DPS employees positive about agency

A survey of more the 10,000 Texas Department of Public Safety employees yielded mostly positive results for the state law enforcement agency, according to an executive summary released this week.

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AUSTIN (KXAN) — A survey of more the 10,000 Texas Department of Public Safety employees yielded mostly positive results for the state law enforcement agency, according to an executive summary released this week.

The survey, conducted by the University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Organizational Excellence, was sent to 10,228 DPS employees. Only 6,247 surveys (62%) were completed.

Results from the survey show a state law enforcement agency staffed with peace officers and support staff who have a positive opinion of their workplace. It broke down the survey questions into 12 categories related to the workplace.

The three highest categories were workgroup, strategic and supervision -- compared to the agency's prior survey, workgroup showed the most improvements. The lowest three were internal communication, pay and benefits; the last were the only categories that showed a decline. Only 22% agreed their pay kept pace with the cost of living and only 28% said their salaries were competitive.

However, nearly 26% of respondents said they believed the survey results would go unused, and just half had trust that their responses would be anonymous.

'Extreme imbalance' of white employees a 'cause for concern'

"A diverse workforce helps ensure that different ideas are understood, and that those served see the organization as representative of the community," the report states. "While percentages can vary among different organizations, extreme imbalances should be a cause for concern."

The share of white employees at DPS was 75.1% at the time of the survey. Black employees made up 11.4%, 3% were Asian, and 2.5% were Native American or Pacific Islander. The remainder either preferred not to answer or chose to self-describe.

To a question asking employees if they were of "Hispanic, Latino/a/x, or of Spanish origin," 58% of employees answered no.

Age of employees shows a curved distribution peaking with 40-49 year-old employees as the highest group. 21% of survey respondents said that they would be eligible to retire before the end of 2026.