Starbase, the South Texas company town established by SpaceX, is taking steps to form its own municipal police department. The town’s commission approved the plan during a meeting on Tuesday, though the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) still must give final approval.
Starbase is primarily a hub for testing SpaceX’s Starship rockets and has only a few hundred residents, most of whom are SpaceX employees and their families. Its remote location—approximately a 45-minute drive from the nearest town, Brownsville—has contributed to the push for a local police presence.
“There are a lot of assets here with the operations of SpaceX. Those assets need to be protected, and so the police department will play a critical part in protecting those assets,” said Kent Myers, Starbase city administrator, in remarks reported by TechCrunch.
The proposed police force will be led by a chief of police, appointed by the Starbase commission, and is expected to hire around eight officers. Officials anticipate the squad could become operational within a few months. Security consulting firm Vision Quest Solutions has reportedly been hired to assist in setting up the department.
It remains unclear whether TCOLE has received Starbase’s application for the new police force. Euronews Next reached out to Starbase for comment.
Starbase’s move comes after previous attempts to rely on the Cameron County sheriff’s office for law enforcement services. In 2024, the town entered a five-year, $3.5 million (€2.9 million) contract with the sheriff’s office, which provided two deputies on patrol at a time, with eight deputies available in total. The town also had an agreement to use the county jail, paying $100 (€84) per day per inmate, along with additional expenses like medical care.
That arrangement ultimately fell through, mainly due to a lack of civil service protections in the contract, leaving Starbase without a consistent law enforcement presence.
In addition to the proposed police force, Starbase has a volunteer fire department, staffed by SpaceX employees. The department includes a fire marshal position and manages permitting and building inspection duties within the town.
The creation of a local police department reflects Starbase’s unique status as a private, company-focused community with high-value operations and limited access to nearby municipal services. The new force is expected to provide both security for SpaceX’s assets and a formal law enforcement presence for residents, marking a significant step in the town’s development.
