Ringside Seats

Jean Dark, Trooper IV and Public Information Officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety was born to pursue a career in law enforcement.Unknown Object Her roots lie in Southern California, where she was raised by her parents with 10 brothers and sisters. “I come from a law enforcement family. My father was a police officer,” Dark proudly explained. Her oldest brother works for the LAPD and her uncle is also a state trooper. “It's been in my family, and it's the way we were brought up,” she said. “So, I always knew that it was something I wanted to do.”

But Dark is not a typical tomboy in what is traditionally a man's career. She is quick to say as a child she did not forgo dressing as a princess to carry a badge and handcuffs. “I was probably [dressed as a] princess with a toy gun,” she said laughing, “I think most people I know would say I was a combination of the two.”

After graduating from a West Coast college, Dark had the opportunity to move to Central Texas and was involved with the Young Life program in the Canyon Lake area. A friend recommended she apply to the State Trooper Academy. “They said, 'This might be a good fit, they're hiring' and so I thought 'I'll certainly give it a shot. I'll throw my hat in the ring,' and I did. I got accepted and then I got worried because it is such a fine agency and … it's so well respected that you start to question is this the right thing to do,” she recalled. The State Trooper Academy included six months of intense marine corps style boot-camp training. “I didn't have a military background like a lot of other people that were applying for the position. It was almost like being in a completely different world … and it was the type of thing I'd never done in my life,” Dark recalled.

There were definitely people at training that wanted her to fail. She was forced to tap into her inner strength to prove people wrong of their first impression of her. “One of the main driving forces for me there were the people that said I couldn't do it because I was too much of a girlie girl. … you know, the princess with the gun.”

After graduation, Dark worked highway patrol in Pampa, Texas; then in Corsicana when a position opened up for a Public Information Officer. “I've always been a teacher. I've always enjoyed sharing what I know or experiences with people that might be beneficial. So, it was a natural fit for me to gravitate toward this type of position,” she said. Her official PIO duties include responsibility for the dissemination of the information to the public ranging from traffic issues to public safety. She also gives educational materials to businesses and schools, from kindergarteners to college students, and educates the public topics from traffic laws to drug and alcohol awareness.

With a total 16 years as a State Trooper and nine of these years as a Public Information Officer, she is definitely a seasoned professional. Dark is one of three women out of 27 troopers in the Tyler District Office. And even though her PIO position mainly involves public education and public relations, she still maintains a reputation as a tough Trooper. She was involved in a shooting, currently is a crisis negotiator and mediator for the DPS. She also admits during patrol she has a talent and instinct for finding dangerous individuals, not to mention a knack for warrant arrests.

Despite the danger, Dark says she thoroughly enjoys patrolling. “It is like having ringside seats to the greatest show on earth, because you see some of the best in people and then you see the exact opposite,” Dark said exuberantly.

“From having really, really good experiences to really gut-wrenching, heart breaking experiences is a normal scope of a trooper's job.”

She serves on the board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of East Texas, and she helped found and Bullard Club. “The need was there. We recognized the need and I was able to make those connections with the board members of the Boys and Girls Clubs and we got that project started and it has been great ever since,” she explained. Dark is also on the board of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving East Texas Advisory Council and is a founding board member for Pay Attention East Texas; PAET is an organization which promotes driver awareness.

In the midst of her career, Dark is married with a 9 year-old and a 3-year old. Her occupation often surprises the mothers and classmates at her children's schools. “There's different reactions you get from people, but for my kids that's normal to them. Once their friends get over that initial, 'your mom's a what?' or 'she does what?' It's just, 'Oh, that's so and so's mom,” Dark expounded. “You wear a gun, but you're just another mom. And that's OK. That's the way I like it.”