AUSTIN - A ceremony was held to swear in the new leader of the Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday. Freeman F. Martin was sworn in as the new director at DPS headquarters in Austin by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Department of Public Safety has a new leader. Freeman Martin was sworn in Monday morning as the new DPS director, replacing Steven McCraw, who retired in November after 15 years as chief. In a news release, Gov. Greg Abbott said Martin “brings an extraordinary wealth of experience” to the position.

Freeman Martin, a senior official at the Texas Department of Public Safety, will serve as the agency’s new executive director beginning next month after the retirement of current DPS director Steve McCraw. Martin, who began at DPS as a highway patrol trooper in 1990, was named to the top agency post by the Public Safety Commission on Wednesday.