Elon Musk’s SpaceX company town is getting a police department

In a significant development for Starbase, the company town established by Elon Musk’s SpaceX in South Texas, plans are underway to form a municipal police department. The city commission approved an ordinance to create this new police squad during a special meeting on Tuesday, pending authorization from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE). This upcoming police department will be led by a chief of police, who will be elected by the city’s commission. It is anticipated that the department will hire eight officers, as reported by local news source Valley Central. The new force is expected to be operational within a few months. Kent Myers, the city administrator of Starbase, emphasized the importance of this new department, stating, "There are a lot of assets here with the operations of SpaceX. Those assets need to be protected, and so the police department will play a critical part in protecting those assets." Details regarding whether Starbase has submitted its application to TCOLE remain unclear, with both the city and TCOLE not responding to inquiries for comment. Starbase has reportedly engaged the services of Vision Quest Solutions, a security consulting firm, to assist in establishing the police department. Starbase is known as the site where SpaceX designs and tests its Starship rocket prototypes. While the town is small, with only a few hundred residents, mostly consisting of SpaceX employees and their families, its geographic isolation poses challenges. The nearest town, Brownsville, is roughly 10 miles away, but travel can take 45 minutes or more. The establishment of a police department marks another milestone in the expansion of public services in Starbase since its incorporation as a city last year. In October, some SpaceX employees initiated a volunteer fire department, and the city has also appointed a fire marshal while managing its own building inspections and permitting processes. Initially, Starbase attempted to manage law enforcement through a contract with the Cameron County sheriff’s office, agreeing to a $3.5 million, five-year deal for two deputies to patrol the area. However, that arrangement faced challenges, prompting Starbase to shift strategies. Sheriff Manuel Treviño noted that the lack of civil service protections within the contract contributed to difficulties in finding available deputies. Myers confirmed that this prompted the city to seek a different approach.