As reported last month in a story on ValleyCentral.com, which is affiliated with Brownsville, Texas area TV news station KGBT, the city of Starbase (yes, it’s a real, incorporated city) has approved an ordinance (yes, it has lawmaking authority) to establish a municipal police department. According to ValleyCentral, it will consist of a police chief and eight officers, who will be selected by the city commission.
Apparently, the city published a job listing looking for applicants for a job titled “Public Safety Director/Future Chief of Police.” The rather surprising hybrid title may arise from the rapid pace at which a city’s institutional paraphernalia is being assembled into a starbase. The city was incorporated about ten months ago, has a mayor and will hold elections on May 2 this year, according to its website.
From ValleyCentral It appears that policing at Starbase is a matter of some urgency as a $3.5 million contract with the Cameron County Sheriff has fallen through. What were intended to be five-year positions were abandoned because starbase-based representatives were not attractive to potential recruits. “We didn’t have a lot of success finding representatives through the county, so we decided to change direction,” City Administrator Kent Myers told ValleyCentral.
The job advertisement says the position will involve creating a “future-ready workforce” that will prioritize “integrating advanced technology and analytics into operations.” The advertisement states that Starbase’s ideal applicant is a “visionary, ethical and innovative leader with unquestionable integrity.”
But that ideal candidate “will also thrive in a startup-like environment.”
As far as what the sociological picture of the area looks like for anyone considering becoming a top cop there, the first thing to keep in mind is that it’s a short drive from the Mexican border, where, as of 2026, drug trafficking remains an issue of concern at the federal level. And according to a 2023 report, Cameron County was on the list of 45 counties (out of a total of 254 counties) considered to be in poverty in Texas.
Close to the starbase, an apparently public beach has seen considerable activity over SpaceX’s control, and a statue of Elon Musk was vandalized in the area last year. So SpaceX and social unrest due to dislike of Elon Musk seem like potential areas of concern.
But it would be unwise to try to paint a picture of the crime scene at Starbase as it is in many ways still just a construction site. The population as of last year was about 500, which is the approximate capacity of a cheesecake factory. And the infrastructure to support a police department doesn’t even exist at Starbase yet. TechCrunch saw some government filings last month that showed the city is likely to have a courthouse soon. From the point of view of common sense, it is logical that a prison sentence will soon follow.
<a href