AUSTIN — Taylor native Devin Gonzales is the new assistant chief of the criminal investigation division at the Department of Public Safety.
DPS officials in a recent release announced the appointment, the latest in Gonzales’ 26-year tenure with the state law-enforcement agency.
Gonzales’ career with DPS started in 1999 as a highway patrol trooper in Kaufman County. He then received a promotion to sergeant/investigator in 2005 and was posted to the Criminal Law Enforcement Division’s narcotics service in Laredo.
He eventually returned to the North Texas Region in 2007, then advanced in 2012 to the position of a CID lieutenant supervising a narcotics unit.
In this capacity, officials said, Gonzales oversaw the Garland Gang Unit, housed at the Anti-Gang Center for the North Texas Region. He was promoted to CID captain in 2016, and in 2022, he was named as a major for the North Texas Region.
Gonzales holds a Master Peace Officer License, is a graduate of DPS’ Command College Cohort No. 7 and is a recipient of the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Association Trilogy Award.
During his career, Gonzales served as a certified Texas Commission on Law Enforcement instructor, providing training on gang recognition to DPS personnel and external law-enforcement agencies, earning him expert status related to the TxGang Database and gang recognition, state officials said.
Gonzales has also received numerous accolades, including the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Honor Award and the U.S. Attorney General’s Award. Gonzales is a graduate of Taylor High School and his parents, Ray and Olga, still live in the area.
