HOUSTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety shared on Tuesday, they have promoted the first woman to serve as a Texas Ranger Major since the organization was started 200 years ago.
Wende O. Wakeman started her new position in September.
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“Major Wende Wakeman’s years of hard work, her tremendous strength of character and her unwavering determination have all led her to this moment,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said. “I cannot think of someone more deserving, nor can I think of a better role model for so many to be able to follow as she continues pave the way.”
Wakeman is a major for Texas Ranger Company F in Waco. She leads a team of 27 Rangers and three lieutenants for a region that runs south of Dallas to south of San Antonio.
“It is an unbelievable honor to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of this great state and to lead my fellow Texas Rangers in this capacity,” Wakeman said. “This moment in Ranger history is only possible because of the dedication and the sacrifice of so many that have come before, along with the incredible strides made by this organization over the years. I will strive to do my very best to represent the men and women of this department every day.”
She began serving DPS in 1998. She worked as a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper then became a narcotics sergeant in 2003. Five years later, she started working with the Texas Rangers in Conroe.
In 2014, she became a lieutenant in Laredo, and this was the first time a woman became a Ranger lieutenant with DPS. In 2020, she received a promotion and earned the rank of captain. She then worked at the Texas Rangers Headquarters in Austin until 2023.
“During her time at Ranger Headquarters, Wakeman oversaw the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Program. SAKI is a program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to assist with furthering collection of offender DNA and the investigation and prosecution of cold case sexually related homicides and sexual assault cases, including violent serial sex offenders,” DPS stated.
Wakeman graduated from the National Forensics Academy, the International Association of Chiefs of Police Women’s Leadership Institute and the DPS Command College. She also has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University.