Amid fallout from the Uvalde shooting, Texas DPS wants $1.2 billion for academy and active-shooter training facility

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw speaks at a border security briefing Jan. 27 at Texas DPS regional headquarters in Weslaco. (Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune)

The Texas Department of Public Safety wants $1.2 billion to turn its training center north of Austin into a full-time statewide law enforcement academy — starting with a state-of-the-art active-shooter facility that would need a nearly half-billion-dollar investment from Texas taxpayers next year.

“You play like you practice,” DPS Director Steve McCraw told budget officials last month. “You need to practice in a real environment.”