The Texas Rangers
I became a Fort Worth Police Officer in 1980. There were many different law enforcement agencies in the area. There were local police, county, state, and the FBI. One law enforcement group kind of flew under the radar. The Texas Rangers were an elite agency you did not want to come after you if you were a criminal. The word elite is the word I use for them. They wouldn’t want to be associated with the word elite. I had heard legends about the Rangers and started reading their stories. What they have done throughout the history of Texas is amazing.
If you don’t want to know the underbelly of having to enforce the law, then stop reading now. The streets are brutal, so that’s what you use to keep people safe, brutality. I had been working in patrol for two years before I ever ran into a Texas Ranger. I had taken a drunk to the jail downtown. As I booked him in two guys came out of the elevator escorting a badly beaten person who was handcuffed by his arms. The two men were both rugged looking and tall. Both were over six feet. They were slim build and wore grey suits, cowboy boots and cowboy hats. They had the traditional Ranger badge on their lapels. I watched as they took the prisoner to the holding area and literally threw him to the floor. The jail lieutenant came out of his office and one of the guys said, “Michaels, Texas Rangers. Keep this guy here until we come get him tomorrow. Do what you have to do if he needs medical attention.” Both Rangers turned around and walked back to the elevator without doing any paperwork and left.
The jail Lieutenant who was known to not put up with any prisoner abuse stood there almost at attention. The Lieutenant immediately called a patrol unit to take the guy to the hospital. He was in bad shape.
I said nothing to the Rangers. I had heard about them. I asked the Jail Lieutenant, “What was that?”
He had a concerned look on his face which I had never seen before, “Those Rangers work the North Texas area, and they rarely bring anyone in, because they usually kill them. I’m not sure what’s going on with this guy. Anyway, I’ll send him to the hospital and get him patched up.”
I came back to work the next day and ended up downtown at the jail, booking in a prisoner. I saw the jail lieutenant and asked him how the Ranger prisoner thing went. He looked at me, “The guy they brought in was the wrong guy. He didn’t do the crime he was suspected of.”
I cringed. They told us in the police academy you don’t cause anyone unnecessary pain. People can sue you and the department. Not to mention the possibility of penitentiary time. I asked the Lieutenant what happened, and he looked around making sure no one was listening, “They found out the guy they beat the hell out of didn’t do it. They came and got him and went south of town. I figured they were going to beg him not to tell anyone. Maybe even give him money.” He hesitated and looked around again, “They took the guy out and beat the hell out of him again. They told him if he said anything they’d kill him. He’s in the hospital again and it’s touch and go if he’s going to make it. Apparently, the guy is a scumbag with a long criminal history.”
I was shocked. I had seen a lot of things, but this could not be good. Those Rangers could end up in prison, especially if the guy dies. The lieutenant then said, “Don’t tell anyone about this. You don’t want the Rangers mad at you.”
I nodded, “Yes sir.”
After a few weeks I hadn’t heard anything about the Ranger incident and decided to talk to the Lieutenant. We were alone and I asked, “Hey, LT., whatever happened to the Rangers and the guy they arrested.”
He looked and said, “The guy survived and left the hospital. The only way I know about all this is because the hospital called and wanted to know if we wanted him back. They were getting ready to release him. I told them to let him go. I don’t want anything to do with the guy or the Rangers. The Rangers will kill you. Did you know you can’t become a Ranger unless you’ve killed somebody?” I shook my head no. He continued, “That’s an old unwritten rule from way back. Once they have their eyes set on you, well, let’s just say, you don’t want that. They are the best law enforcement organization in the world. When the Texas Rangers come after you, they will catch you and most likely kill you. They only go after the meanest, badest criminals.”
After the Lieutenant’s talk I researched the Texas Rangers and read several books written about them. As the Lieutenant said, they are the best law enforcement organization in the world. Some people won’t like the brutality of it, but they only go after the people who kill and keep killing and need to be stopped. The Rangers captured or killed many notorious criminals in their history dating back to the early days of the Texas Republic. They captured John Wesley Hardin and killed Bonnie and Clyde, and they don’t give a damn about jurisdiction. They killed Bonnie and Clyde in Louisiana and captured John Wesly Hardin in Florida. The only reason they didn’t Kill Hardin was because they caught him on crowded train in Pensacola. He used passengers for a shield as Rangers approached in the rail car.
Kenny Rogers had a television series on the History Channel called the Real West. He did stories about different periods and areas of the country during the 1800’s. He did an entire episode on the Texas Rangers. At the end he said, “There are a lot of legends in the old west and a lot of frontier myths. In the case of the Texas Rangers however, it’s all true.”
During my career in law enforcement, I had a few other experiences with the Texas Rangers. Those are stories unto themselves. They caught or killed the worst of the worst. It always ended with me smiling and nodding at their handling of bad guys. By the way, nothing ever happened to those two Rangers.
