The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is pleased to announce that Alice Amilhat has promoted to the newly created position of Assistant Chief of the Crime Laboratory Division. In this new role as Assistant Chief, she will have a hand in planning, directing and coordinating forensic laboratory services across the state.
Amilhat’s promotion was approved by the Public Safety Commission during its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 26, and took effect Nov. 1. She will be based at DPS Headquarters in Austin.
“Alice has already proven to be such a tremendous asset to the division in her time with the department,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “I have no doubt she will continue to assist the division in meeting whatever challenges arise in this new leadership role.”
Amilhat began her career with DPS in 1998. Prior to this promotion she served as the Assistant Lab Director for the Crime Laboratory Division. Throughout her 20-year career, she’s held a wide range of positions including Laboratory Manager, DNA Technical Leader, forensic scientist and evidence technician in both the El Paso and Austin laboratories.
Amilhat holds a Professional Science Master’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Vermont. She is also a Certified Forensic Manager (CFM).
This is the first Assistant Chief’s position for the department’s Crime Laboratory Division. Prior to becoming its own division, the crime laboratory was housed under the Law Enforcement Support Division and the Criminal Law Enforcement Division before that. As services and personnel continued to expand it became its own division, known as the Crime Laboratory Division in January 2021, and Brady Mills was named its inaugural Chief.
About DPS’ Crime Laboratory Division
The Department of Public Safety’s Crime Laboratory started as a one-chemist operation established in 1937 at Austin’s Camp Mabry. Since then, it has developed into a comprehensive forensic laboratory system with labs at 16 different locations across the state of Texas. The division is now comprised of approximately 660 personnel. These personnel work in several areas of analysis including trace evidence; biology/DNA; digital/multimedia evidence; firearms and toolmarks; friction ridge analysis; forensic documents; seized drugs; and toxicology. These services are provided at various laboratory locations in Texas which are strategically located for optimal access and support to the criminal justice community.
