Roger Wade is  Public Information Officer (P.I.O.), for the  Travis County Sheriff's Office. He was a friend of Deputy Sheriff Keith George Ruíz, an officer who died in the line of duty on February 15, 2001, while part of a SWAT team attempting to serve a narcotics warrant at a residence in Del Valle. In this interview, Roger Wade explains how he came to work for the Sheriff's Office, his work as P.I.O., and in particular his actions and feelings as on the night of Deputy Ruíz's death. In this interview, Wade also thinks out loud about his reaction -- at the time of trial and years later -- to the Travis County District Attorney's decision not to seek the death sentence in the shooting of Keith Ruíz, even though murder of a law enforcement official is a capital crime in Texas. Wade also describes Deputy Ruíz's personal qualities, the danger of law enforcement work, and the effects of Deputy Ruíz's death on his coworkers in the Sheriff's Department.
Contributor | Contribuidor:
Wade, Roger (Narrator), Texas After Violence Project (Contributor), Solis, Gabriel (Interviewer), Keffler, Tony (Videographer), Mason, Susanne (Transcriber), and Solis, Gabriel (Proofreader)