The Public Safety Commission has unanimously approved Freeman Martin to lead the Texas Department of Public Safety, tapping a top lieutenant of outgoing Director Steve McCraw.

Here’s what to know about the incoming head of the state law enforcement agency:

Martin, 56, is senior deputy director of DPS, where he has a “crucial role” in planning, directing, managing and overseeing the agency’s activities and operations, according to his staff biography.

DPS has more than 11,000 employees and a $3.5 billion biennial budget.

His career at DPS began as a Highway Patrol trooper in 1990. He has been a Highway Patrol corporal, narcotics service sergeant and a sergeant, lieutenant, captain and major with the Texas Rangers, the agency’s elite investigative division. He also has been regional commander for the Central Texas Region and deputy director of DPS, a post he was appointed to in 2018.

He has expertise in executive protection, violent crime prevention operations, intelligence, counterterrorism and homeland security, and he led the DPS response to the Sutherland Springs mass shooting, Hurricane Harvey and Operation Lone Star.

Martin established a Texas Anti-Gang Center in San Antonio, helped develop the Texas Rangers Major Crime Scene Response Team and runs a number of initiatives to support local law enforcement agencies.

He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.

The Public Safety Commission, which oversees DPS, conducted a national search after McCraw announced his retirement in August.

The five-member commission is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. At a Sept. 6 meeting, the commission set minimum requirements for the position, opened a four-week window for resumes and letters of interest through Oct. 4, and created a subcommittee to vet applicants and make recommendations.

The subcommittee selected three finalists for in-person and virtual interviews conducted Oct. 16 and Oct. 24. At its meeting Wednesday, commissioners deliberated privately for nearly 2½ hours before returning to announce Martin as its undisputed choice.

His appointment is effective Dec. 1. He will be sworn in the following day at a ceremony at DPS headquarters.

McCraw, whose retirement takes effect next month, led the department for the past 15 years, calling it “the greatest honor of my life.”

He rose from Highway Patrol trooper in 1977 to narcotics agent in 1983, when he left DPS to join the FBI. McCraw left the federal agency in 2004 to become Texas’ homeland security director until he was named to lead DPS in 2009.

McCraw was heavily scrutinized over the police response to the May 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, including the inaction of dozens of DPS troopers who responded. Officers from multiple agencies waited more than an hour to enter a classroom to confront and kill the gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers.

McCraw was not in Uvalde at the time. He later called the police response an “abject failure” but resisted calls to step down. McCraw blamed the delayed police response on the local school police chief.

In his retirement note to staff, McCraw didn’t say what’s next for him. Instead, he expressed his “deep pride and heartfelt gratitude” to his employees.