Roger Wade interview

Submitted by lavagirl on Wed, 06/17/2009 - 17:35.

On this page, the photograph at the top is a "thumbnail." To watch the interview, you will need to scroll all the way down. We are working to figure out how to make this video be at the top of the page.....please bear with us! thanks, vr, 17 June 2009

Also, sometimes it takes a couple of minutes for the video to load. Please be patient, but also feel free to let us know about any problems you have so that we can work the glitches out.

Mr. Roger Wade is Public Information Officer (PIO), 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 PIO, and what he did and felt the night that Deputy Ruíz was shot. In this clip, Mr. Wade also thinks out loud about his reaction -- at the time of trial and years later -- to the District Attorney's decision not to seek the death penalty in this case. Mr. Wade also describes Deputy Ruíz's qualities, the danger of law enforcement work, and the shock and enduring effects of Deputy Ruíz's death.

You may also wish to listen to Captain Art Cárdenas remember Deputy Ruíz, and read the transcript of our interview with Major Darren Long.

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: Roger Wade, Public Information Officer, Travis County Sheriff's Office
Date of interview: July 24, 2008
Place: Keith G. Ruíz Building, 5555 Airport Boulevard, Austin, Texas
Interviewer: Gabriel Solis for the Texas After Violence Project
Videographer: Tony Keffler
Also present: no one
Transcriber: Susanne Mason
Reviewer and proofreader: Gabriel Solis
Length of this video clip: 12:02
Length of interview: 42:45
Equipment: Sony 1080i mini-HD DVcamcorder with Sennheiser external microphone
Recorded on: Sony mini-DV cassettes
Relationship of inteviewer team to narrator: Mr. Wade and Mr. Solis had communicated before the interview via e-mail, but they met for the first time on the day of the interview. Mr. Keffler also met Mr. Wade for the first time on the day of the 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; Mr. Wade 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 Mr. Wade, 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 Mr. Wade, 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 of Mr. Wade by Gabriel Solis for the Texas After Violence Project.
Date of donation of interview to Texas After Violence Project: April 24, 2009
Date of donor's instruction regarding web publication: April 24, 2009
Video imported by:
Video edited by:
Video posted by: Kimberly Anne Bacon
Importing software:
Editing software: Final Cut Pro
Text: Virginia Raymond
Posting date: June 17, 2009

Copyright Roger Wade 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:
Wade, R., Solis, G.D., & Keffer, A. (Producers). (2009). Roger Wade 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/284

MLA format:
Wade, Roger. "Roger Wade Interview." Interview with Gabriel Daniel Solis and Anthony Keffler. Roger Wade Interview. 2009. Texas
After Violence Project, 2009. Texas After Violence Project. Ed. Virginia Marie Raymond, Gabriel Daniel Solis, and J. J. Campbell. 17 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/284

* 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.