Taking the Leap from TDCJ to DPS

Texas State Trooper Erik Burse.

After 17 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Major Erik Burse was assigned to give a tour of the Coffield Unit to members of the Department of Public Safety. As he turned the corner to greet his guests, he was awestruck by the 20 to 30 polished troopers that stood before him.

“I was taken aback, and they took my breath away,” said Burse, a former Sam Houston State University student. “I was so blown away by these men and women and how they carried themselves, I went back to my office and drafted a letter of resignation. It was a joke at the time, but when I went home and told my wife, she said, ‘It’s about time. If you are going to do it, you better get going because you’re not getting any younger.’”

Trooper Burse talks to a reporter in the field.Major Burse resigned and, after a short stint as a jailer at the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, he was accepted into the State Trooper Academy. Following graduation, he patrolled the highways and byways of Montgomery County for 10 years before being promoted to Safety Education.

“There was never a dull moment,” said Trooper Burse about his time on patrol. “As a trooper, I got to see and work traffic fatalities, vehicle pursuits, drug seizures, money seizures, DUI cases and major accidents. It was a well-rounded experience.”

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