Longview ISD Advancing School Police Department for 2026

(KNUE-FM) It’s alarming how unsafe schools feel not only in Texas but across our country. We have seen way too much violence in schools which is causing one East Texas school district to move forward with plans to create their own police department.

Why Longview ISD Is Creating a Police Department

According to the Longview News-Journal, Longview ISD is well on its way to starting its own police department and it’s possible that everything is in place for the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Longview trustees first voted to create the police department in May of 2025 and once completed it will be the first school police department in the county.

READ MORE: Texas School Vape Diversion Program Helps Students

What the County Agreement Means

Gregg County Commissioners are supportive of the project as recently they approved a memorandum of understanding between the district police and the Gregg County Sheriff’s Office. The agreement is to establish communication guidelines and a partnership between agencies.

Get our free mobile app

Timeline for Licensing and Launch

Now that the agreement is in place between the school police department and local law enforcement, the next step is to ask the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to begin a formal review process that allows the department to become a licensed police department. The hope is to have this done by the summertime.

The school police department is all about keeping kids safe at school; this will allow on-site officers to respond to incidents faster. All Longview ISD police officers will undergo 80 hours of training to carry firearms on campus.

It will be interesting to see if this new police department lowers violence on campus. Do you think this would be a good idea for all Texas school districts? I would love to know your thoughts; you can send me an email. My email address is billy.jenkins@townsquaremedia.com.