Perry talks often about Texas Rangers’ border security work, just don’t ask him for specifics
By Christopher Sherman, APThursday, August 26, 2010
State obscures elite Texas Rangers’ border work
McALLEN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry tells just about anyone who’ll listen about his plan to dispatch elite teams of Texas Rangers to the border to keep Texans safe from encroaching Mexican drug violence.
Just don’t ask him for specifics.
The Ranger Recon initiative serves as a strong rhetorical counterpoint when Perry slams the federal government on border violence issues. But details about what the taxpayer-funded teams actually accomplish remain a secret.
State officials insist they don’t tally arrests or drug and property seizures under the program. They say doesn’t have its own budget after more than a year in operation and decline to put a dollar figure on its cost.
Nor will they say how many of the state’s 144 Rangers, the top criminal investigators in Texas, participate.
