Captain Arturo Cárdenas interview

Submitted by lavagirl on Fri, 06/19/2009 - 12:27.

Please scroll all the way to the bottom of this page to view this video. Thank you for your patience as we work out the glitches! vr 22 June 2009

Captain Art Cárdenas is a member of the Command Staff of the Travis County Sheriff's Office. A founding member of the Travis County SWAT Team, then-Sergeant Cárdenas trained Keith G. Ruíz in "SWAT School." In his interview, Captain Cárdenas recounts his own path, from seminarian and aspiring priest to law enforcement officer, married father of three sons, and community volunteer. In the portion of the interview posted on this website, Captain Cárdenas vividly recalls the perseverance, dedication, skills, and humor of Deputy Ruíz, who died in the line of duty on February 15, 2001. Captain Cárdenas also explains the emotional intimacy and sense of family that develops among officers who spend many long monotonous hours together and who sometimes also suddenly find themselves in very dangerous situations together.

Please also see a clip from the Interview of Roger Wade, Public Information Officer for the Travis County Sheriff's Office, and the transcript of Major Darren Long's interview.

The Travis County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in the Keith Ruíz Building, which was dedicated in 2007 (Carrie Fortner, "County building dedication to honor Ruiz's contributions,"The Five Point Press, Vol. 3, Issue 1, http://www.tcsheriff.org/5PPFall07.pdf, accessed June 17, 2009). For more information about Deputy Ruíz, please see the Travis County Sheriff's Office Memorial Page and the national Officer Down Memorial Page. The Travis County Sheriff Officers Association helped establish the Keith Ruíz Memorial Scholarship for a student majoring in Criminal Justice at Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State University), from which Keith Ruíz graduated in 1987.

Information about the interview:

Narrator: Captain Arthur Gerard Cárdenas
Date of interview: July 23, 2008
Place of interview: Travis County Sheriff's Office, Keith G. Ruíz Building, 5555 Airport Boulevard, Austin, Texas
Interviewer: Virginia Marie Raymond for the Texas After Violence Project
Videographer: Gabriel Daniel Solis
Also present: no one
Transcriber: Susanne Mason
Reviewer and proofreader: Virginia Raymond
Interview length: 46:16
Length of this video clip: 17:06
Equipment : Sony 1080i mini-HD DVcamcorder with Sennheiser external microphone
Relationship of interviewer team to narrator: Captain Cárdenas and Virginia Raymond had met at least once before, in the meeting described below at the Sheriff's Office, and perhaps also in a brief, cursory manner at public hearings including at the Travis County Commissioner's Court. Gabriel Solis and Captain Cárdenas met for the first time on the day of this interview.
How this interview came about: In 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council (CRC) of the Jewish Community Association of Austin (JCAA) asked to meet with Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton about the Sheriff's Department's relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the presence of ICE officers in the Travis County Jail, and the effects of both on immigrants (and other people) in Travis County. Sheriff Hamilton agreed to a meeting; Captain Cárdenas for the Sheriff's Department took part in the conversation and Virginia Raymond came with the JCAA/CRC delegation. At the end of the meeting about ICE, Virginia told the Sheriff's Office representatives, including Captain Cárdenas, about the Texas After Violence Project. She explained the project's purpose and the importance of hearing from people with many different experiences and perspectives. Every person in the room from the Sheriff's Office, including Captain Cárdenas, offered to share their stories even as they acknowledged that it would be painful to talk about Deputy Ruíz's death. An exchange of phone calls and e-mails followed, leading to this interview.
Website editors: Virginia Raymond, Gabriel Solis, & J. J. Campbell
Date of donation of interview: April 17, 2009
Date of instruction regarding web publication: April 17, 2009
Video imported, edited, and posted by: Sabina Eva María Hinz-Foley
Importing software: Final Cut Pro
Editing software: Final Cut Pro
Text: Virginia Raymond
Posting date: June 19, 2009

Copyright Arthur G. Cárdenas and the Texas After Violence Project 2009. Permission for educational, non-commercial use granted provided the user fully attributes the source of the material and this website:

ASA format:
Cárdenas, A.G., Raymond, V. M., & Solis, G. D. (Producers). (2009). Arthur Gerard. Cárdenas Interview [Motion picture]. U.S.: Texas After Violence Project. Retrieved [Month date year YOU retrieve the interview from this website; delete these brackets from your citation], from Texas After Violence Project Web site:
http://www.texasafterviolence.org/node/288

MLA format:
Cárdenas, Arthur Gerard. "Arthur Gerard Cárdenas Interview." Interview with Virginia Marie Raymond and Gabriel Daniel Solis. Arthur Gerard Cárdenas Interview. 2009. Texas After Violence Project, 2009. Texas After Violence Project. Ed. Virginia Marie Raymond, Gabriel Daniel Solis, and J. J. Campbell. 19 June 2009.* Texas After Violence Project. [Date YOU retrieve the video from this website; delete these brackets from your citation] http://www.texasafterviolence.org/node/288

* This date is the date the video was posted online. This date will not change. The asterisk in the model citation is for instruction only; do not include it in your citation.