Texas Leaders Getting More Security
AUSTIN (AP) - More Texas leaders have bodyguards, whether they want them or not.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says "credible threats" were documented in December and he has agreed to allow state-provided law enforcement personnel to protect him as needed, the Austin American-Statesman reported for its Friday editions.
Security for elected officials nationwide has drawn scrutiny since U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head during a public appearance last weekend in Tucson. Six people were killed and 14 wounded. A suspect is in custody.
Dewhurst declined Thursday to provide details of the threats. Plainclothes Texas Department of Public Safety officers accompanied Dewhurst in the Capitol and the Senate chamber this week.
The DPS "came to me months ago and recommended security, but I have resisted," Dewhurst said. "In December, because of some credible threats, I agreed to it ... when I am in public places, public functions, not all the time."
Gov. Rick Perry has a security detail. Attorney General Greg Abbott and newly re-elected Texas House Speaker Joe Straus are also subject to the expanded DPS security, the newspaper reported.
Dewhurst confirmed his added security includes an occasional DPS detail, driver and state vehicle, a black SUV that has been in his parking spot outside the Capitol in Austin much of this week. "I really can't say more than that," he said.
Straus declined comment Thursday, even as a bodyguard stood nearby in the House Chamber.
"I leave information about security to the DPS," according to Straus.
The attorney general's office has maintained a law enforcement division for several years that in the past has provided security for Abbott and other attorneys general when needed.
"We do not discuss security at the Capitol" or those protected, said DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange.
Deadly drug-war violence has flared along the Texas-Mexico border in the past year, prompting some legislators to seek additional security.
"Yes, legislators are taking precautions when they go out in the border areas," said state Rep. Aaron Pena of Edinburg. "As elected officials, we have that threat . . . and we can and do" ask for DPS escorts when out in public.
"I ask for it when I need it," Pena said. "We are living in different times now."
(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
