S.F. sheriff: No more ride-alongs

Decision comes after deputy pursuing suspect was fired at with civilian in vehicle

The Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office offered ride-alongs to the public so people could see what policing is about.

“If you are tired of just watching TV shows depicting police/law enforcement and would be interested in seeing what really happens, then all you need to do is ask!” a page on the Sheriff ’s Office website said.

But last week, a sheriff ’s deputy with a ride-along passenger got into a vehicle chase with a suspect in a road rage incident, then was shot at by the suspect.

Neither the deputy nor the woman passenger was injured, but the Sheriff ’s Office is canceling its ride-along program as a result of the incident, department spokesman Juan Ríos said Tuesday.

“This incident was just … it was an eye-opener,” Ríos said.

Sheriff Robert Garcia made the decision to end the ride-alongs.

“I do not want to place civilian personnel in that situation,” Garcia said.

The sheriff also said that he doesn’t think his deputies should be restricted from doing their jobs because they’re carrying a civilian.

Ride-alongs are commonly offered by law enforcement around the country for various reasons. Members of the news media can ask for a ridealong to see how police do their jobs. Ride-alongs can be used as a recruitment tool to show people with an interest in law enforcement what the job is like.

The Sheriff ’s Office ride-along web page, which has been taken down, mentioned that being a sheriff ’s deputy can be a dangerous job and that passengers would have to sign waivers saying they understood the risks.

“If you wish to participate,” the web page said, “you must do so at your own risk.”

Garcia said, “It’s always been normal to have ride-alongs [for people] that are interested in law enforcement to see what the job entails.

“This last incident — and we didn’t have anything like that in the past — that led me to decide I can no longer do [ride-alongs] while I am still in the office, for the safety of civilians wanting to ride.”

Voters will elect a new sheriff in November and that person could re-establish the ride-along program. Garcia is barred by term limits from seeking re-election.

Andrew Padilla, acting chief of the Santa Fe Police Department, said the agency didn’t plan on changing its ride-along policies. The public can ask to spend a few hours with an officer in a police unit.

“We want to expose the citizens of Santa Fe to the lifestyle,” Padilla said.

According to court documents, sheriff ’s Deputy Kevin Miller responded to a road rage incident Tuesday with a ride-along passenger in the front seat of his car. A caller had told police a man in a red GMC Envoy had pointed a gun at him while they were driving on U.S. 84/285.

The deputy spotted the Envoy on Tesuque Village Road and followed the car onto southbound U.S 84/285, according to court documents. When the deputy turned on his lights and tried to stop the Envoy, driven by a man who police later identified as Randy Branch of Hernandez, Branch started driving erratically and speeding up to 90 mph.

Near the exit to N.M. 599, the complaint says, Branch leaned out of his window and fired two shots toward the patrol car.

According to Ríos, the deputy was instructed to stop chasing the Envoy and let other deputies take over “to ensure the safety of that individual that was in the vehicle with the deputy.”

The other deputies didn’t catch Branch, despite two different chases Tuesday. Branch was later arrested by the Bernalillo County Sheriff ’s Office, Ríos said.

He was booked into the Santa Fe County jail Tuesday, inmate logs show, and is facing six felony charges, including aggravated assault on a peace officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.