{"id":26021,"date":"2020-09-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-upd-receives-prestigious-law-enforcement-agency-award\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T09:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T14:27:29","slug":"tarleton-upd-receives-prestigious-law-enforcement-agency-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-upd-receives-prestigious-law-enforcement-agency-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarleton UPD Receives Prestigious Law Enforcement Agency Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tarleton<\/a><\/p>\n

Tarleton UPD Recognition by TPCA<\/p>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nMonday, September 28, 2020<\/p>\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 The Tarleton State University Police Department has earned \u201crecognized\u201d status from the Texas Police Chiefs Association, making it the 165th agency in the state to receive the honor since 2006.<\/p>\n

Part of the association\u2019s Law Enforcement Recognition Program, the award follows a critical two-year self-review of department policies, procedures, facilities and operations, plus an on-site review by state police chiefs. Fewer than 200 of the state\u2019s more than 2,000 police departments have earned TPCA recognition.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus, a graduate of Tarleton\u2019s Master of Criminal Justice program, presented the award today during ceremonies on the Stephenville campus. The department also will be recognized at TPCA\u2019s annual conference in April 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving this honor places the University Police Department among the state\u2019s top law enforcement agencies,\u201d Kraus said. \u201cTarleton can be assured that its police department is following best practices for the safety of students, employees and the Stephenville community.\u201d<\/p>\n

TPCA\u2019s recognition program evaluates compliance with nearly 170 best practices for law enforcement operations, including property and evidence management, patrol and investigative protocols, and the protection of individual rights.<\/p>\n

Tarleton began national and state safe-campus reports four years ago; it ranked No. 18 among America\u2019s top 50 safest large colleges and universities in 2016 and No. 1 in Texas last year. In 2017 the department celebrated its 50th anniversary with the move to a 4,300-square-foot headquarters on the northwest corner of Frey and Harbin streets.<\/p>\n

Part of Tarleton\u2019s Division of Student Affairs, the University Police Department is among the smallest law enforcement agencies in Texas, authorized for 18 officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may be small in number, but we\u2019re big on meeting the very same standards as larger departments,\u201d said Tarleton Police Chief Matt Welch. \u201cOur officers and staff take great pride in ensuring a safe and secure learning, living and working environment, and providing exemplary service to the university and the Stephenville community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congratulating the department, Student Affairs Vice President Kelli C. Styron said the safety of Tarleton Texans is the university\u2019s top priority. \u201cWhat an honor to be named among the best law enforcement agencies in Texas! I am extremely proud of this dedicated team of men and women who put themselves on the front lines to protect and serve our institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others attending this morning\u2019s event were Stephenville Police Chief Dan Harris, Erath County Sheriff Matt Coates, Stephenville Assistant City Manager Jason King and Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash.<\/p>\n

For more information on Tarleton\u2019s University Police Department, go to www.tarleton.edu\/police<\/a>. To learn more about the Texas Police Chiefs Association, visit www.texaspolicechiefs.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today\u2019s scholars into tomorrow\u2019s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 14,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.<\/p>\n

Contact: Tarleton University Police Chief Matt Welch
\n254-968-9875
\nwelch@tarleton.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tarleton State University Police Department has earned “recognized” status from the Texas Police Chiefs Association, making it the 165th agency in the state to receive the honor since 2006.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","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":[423,425,427],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","category-science-health"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2021\/11\/image-326-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 7 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 28, 2020","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 28, 2020 12:00 am","modified":"Updated on October 7, 2025 9:27 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Two police officers holding a framed certificate outside Tarleton Police building.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52798,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26021\/revisions\/52798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}