As protection for police officers continue to get prioritized in the Texas legislature, law enforcement agencies have introduced additional measures to assist their members.

Programs like COPsync, provides detailed information about individuals for officials, and aims to help authorities interact more effectively.

“COPsync is a system that built for cops, by cops,” said Lieutenant Lee Anderson, with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. “COPsync is utilized by our department by running the license plates on vehicles, the driver’s license on individuals that are stopped for traffic offenses or any offenses where we have to have contact with an individual.”

Anderson said LSO deputies could access the program to get a detailed work-up about someone, without tying up radio traffic to have dispatchers look the person up.

“It’s a very important tool to have so that you know who you’re dealing with right away,” he explained. “Seconds matter when you’re dealing with an individual that’s stolen a car (for example).”

House Bills 2082 and 1689, passed this year, provide protection for first-responders injured in the line of duty. HB 2082 was authored by Representative Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock).

COPsync was established after Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Randy Vetter was shot and killed by a man he pulled over in what started as a “routine” traffic stop.

Vetter’s wife Cynthia helped create the program with two of his colleagues.

She confirmed to EverythingLubbock.com that five municipalities on the South Plains were part of the COPsync Network, but could not reveal which agencies they were, citing company policy.

Lubbock County Constable CJ Peterson, of Precinct 4, said he utilized the program for its record management system, among other uses.

“We have so many papers come across our desk every day, so it’s better for us to enter it in electronically, and we can keep better records that way,” Peterson said. “Helps us with safety issues as well.”

“Doing what we do for a living, when you’re going into a situation where you’re taking someone’s property or taking somebody’s belongings against their will even though they put themselves in that situation, tempers flare,” Peterson mentioned. “When we go there and try to execute those court orders, bad things can happen. We just got to prepare ourselves to know if that person has violent tendencies or if they are going to have a situation where we’re going to need back up.”

Despite widespread nationwide use, COPsync, and other programs of its kind, do not have success in every local agency.

Wolfforth Police Chief Rick Scott said his department tried COPsync out, but found that it was not effective for what his officers needed.

“We were using a records management and COPsync,” Scott said. “It just became a hassle to use 2 different products.”

He said Wolfforth Police turned to a different third-party resource.

Peterson admits the cost could pose problems for various agencies due to budget concerns.

“It’s not the cheapest program in the world, but it’s the most efficient for what we do,” Peterson stated. “It works well for us.”

COPsync officials said the network has expanded to more than 550 local agencies in Texas, including 53% of sheriff’s departments in the state. 17 states had the program active, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.