Tarleton State University Chief of Police Matt Welch is deciding what to do with an office full of mementos from his 43-year career in law enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An antique knife once owned by a member of the French Foreign Legion sits atop a table near his desk, a cast iron street-mounted stop sign from the \u201940s is on the floor in front of his window, and there are dozens of police challenge coins, small customized medallions that recognize service, commemorate milestones and foster camaraderie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a purple shovel from a university groundbreaking event given to him by then-Chancellor John Sharp leaning against the wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would pick him up from the airport when he\u2019d come to Stephenville,\u201d Welch said. \u201cHe was headed home once and he said to me, \u2018Man, I\u2019ve got a closet full of shovels; do you want it?\u2019 I said, \u2018Sure.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He must find new homes for all those things and many other souvenirs as he prepares to transition to retirement at the end of the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy last day is set to be Aug. 31,\u201d he said, explaining that health issues, some related to stress, led to his decision to step away from the position he\u2019s held since 2014. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel better, but my doctor said part of it is hereditary and part of it is stress. I asked her if she was suggesting retirement and she said, \u2018Yeah, if you can.\u2019 So, here we are.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welch started police work in 1983 after a move from the Rio Grande Valley, where he grew up, to Durango, Colo. His first gig in law enforcement was with the La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy parents moved up there and I kind of followed the food,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved it up there, hunting, fishing, skiing, everything outdoors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the area became popular for retirees from other parts of the country, prices began to rise, and Welch started planning a return the Lone Star State. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy best friend at the sheriff\u2019s office, also from Texas, had a brother who worked at the Tarrant County DA\u2019s office, and he spoke highly of the Fort Worth Police Department. My friend went to work there, and I came in a year later.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the 28 years he worked for the FWPD, he spent time as the liaison officer between the department and Texas Christian University, where he learned about policing a college campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His plan was to retire from the FWPD, but he heard about the opening at Tarleton State in 2014, applied and beat out more than 100 other applicants for the post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, he has helped celebrate the Tarleton State University Police Department\u2019s 50th anniversary and led the department to a variety of professional law enforcement honors and awards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon his retirement, Chief Welch will leave a legacy of strengthening campus safety through professional standards, community engagement, and recognized excellence in law enforcement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under his 12-year watch the department achieved its Best Practices accreditation through the Texas Police Chiefs Association, making it the first accredited law enforcement agency in Erath County and highlighting its compliance with more than 170 statewide standards for effective, rights-based policing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These Best Practices were developed by Texas law enforcement professionals to assist agencies in the efficient and effective delivery of service, the reduction of risk and the protection of individual rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tarleton State\u2019s Police Department first became accredited in 2020. At the time, the department was the only police agency in Erath County with this accreditation. Out of more than 2,800 police departments in Texas, fewer than 300 are accredited by the TPCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief Welch\u2019s tenure also includes guiding the department to earn statewide recognition from the Texas Police Chiefs Association for policy and operational excellence, fostering community outreach initiatives such as Shop with a Cop and strengthening preventive safety measures, visibility and responsiveness across Tarleton State\u2019s campuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Changes to Tarleton State\u2019s physical footprint in the last 12 years have led to an expansion to the department\u2019s list of duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe university has grown rapidly,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery time we add a building, it\u2019s one more we need to secure and check every night. I think of all the buildings that have been added since I\u2019ve been here \u2014 the farm, the rodeo facility, the Fort Worth campus \u2014 it\u2019s a big job and I\u2019m proud of the way we\u2019ve handled it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the chief pointed out that Tarleton State\u2019s D1 athletics success has seen crowds grow tenfold, requiring as many as six agencies for big games and tailgates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though he won\u2019t be at his familiar desk chair, Welch anticipates staying busy, with plans including volunteer work, whittling down the entries on his \u201choney-do\u201d list and traveling with his wife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A key member of Welch\u2019s Tarleton State force also plans to leave his post at the same time the Chief retires. Administrative Sergeant Stan Parker will move into civilian life at the end of the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parker, who has been at Tarleton State since 2016, came to Stephenville after 29 years with the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Like Welch, his retirement plans focus on travel with his wife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have greatly enjoyed my time here while working for Chief Welch,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is a man of high morals and has a great sense of humor as well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welch, who has also served on the faculty of the Tarleton State criminal justice program, said he\u2019s excited to begin his new chapter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been wonderful,\u201d he said. \u201cI got more than a few gray hairs from it, but I\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tarleton State\u2019s Top Cop Targeting Summer\u2019s End for Retirement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"functions-assets\/full-feature-post-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-summer-2026-issue"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/290\/2026\/07\/Out-of-the-Blue-1-300x169.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Spring \/ Summer 2026 Issue<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Spring \/ Summer 2026 Issue<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 weeks ago","modified":"Updated 2 weeks ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 13, 2026","modified":"Updated on July 13, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 13, 2026 11:35 pm","modified":"Updated on July 13, 2026 11:51 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1120,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions\/1120"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}