Next DPS patrol vessel commissioned

AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) - The last of six new patrol vessels being used by the Texas Department of Public Safety and named for a slain officer has been commissioned.

Ceremonies were held Wednesday in Austin for the black-and-white boat named in memory of Trooper Scott Burns.

Burns was fatally shot during an April 2008 traffic stop near Lake O' The Pines in East Texas. A suspect in the slaying later killed himself to avoid being captured.

The Scott Burns joins five other 34-foot shallow water interceptors outfitted with high-tech equipment and meant to patrol the Rio Grande and other waterways. The vessel program was unveiled in December , with the plan to use them to be used in the battle with drug dealers and human smugglers.

Each vessel costs approximately $580,000 fully equipped. The funding comes from the Texas Legislature and federal grants.

The 34-foot long boats feature armored glass and armored hulls, along with 900-horsepower engines. The vessels sport 4 machine gun turrets and state of the art night vision cameras.

"It is fully capable of taking whatever threats they'll encounter. And there will be a full spectrum of threats, because we will be using this as an interdiction tool. The cartels continue to exploit, move ton quantities of drugs or humans across that river and those waterways. We need to be able to interdict those," said Steve McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety in December at the initial ceremony held in Austin.