Wende Wakeman
Captain, Texas Ranger Division
Wakeman joined the Texas Department of Public Safety in July of 1998 as a recruit in the DPS Training Academy. She graduated from the DPS Training Academy in January of 1999. From January of 1999 through October of 2003, she was assigned as a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper in Sulphur Springs and New Caney. Then in November of 2003, she was promoted to Sergeant in the DPS Narcotics Service and was stationed in McAllen and then later in Houston, where she remained until December of 2007. In January of 2008, she was promoted to Texas Ranger and was assigned in Conroe, where she remained until August of 2014 when she was promoted to Texas Ranger Lieutenant in Laredo. Wakeman later transferred to Huntsville as a Lieutenant. In September of 2020, Wakeman was promoted to the rank of Captain at the Texas Rangers Headquarters in Austin.
Wakeman is a graduate of the National Forensic Academy in Knoxville, Tennessee. As a Ranger, she was a member of the Texas Ranger Division, Crime Scene Investigation Working Group, and the Crime Scene Team Leader for Company “A.” She is a TCOLE Instructor and has provided instruction to DPS recruits and Texas Rangers in the fields of Case Management, Crime Scene Investigation and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis. Wakeman is an instructor in the DPS Interdiction for the Protection of Children program, and she is a graduate of DPS Command College – Cohort 4. Wakeman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University.
The Texas Rangers specialize in investigating major incident crime investigations, unsolved crime/serial crime investigations, public corruption investigations, crimes against children, officer-involved shooting investigations, and border security operations. The Rangers also oversee specialized law enforcement teams within the department, including the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team, Special Response Teams, Ranger Reconnaissance Team, Crisis Negotiations Units, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. The first 10 Texas Rangers were commissioned in 1823, and today the Texas Ranger Division is comprised of approximately 160 commissioned officers.