SIDEBAR
Chief Claudio Treviño Jr. reflects on aftermath of June 2 shootings
Notes “endless miracles” that followed the violence.
Chief Claudio Treviño Jr.
Recently hired Chief of Police Claudio Treviño Jr. reflected on the June 2 shootout that left four LPD officers injured, three seriously, in an encounter with an armed man suspected of murdering his girlfriend, Reyna Gonzalez Zamora, only hours prior.
Officers Mario Casares, Arturo Vela, and Agapito Perez were airlifted to San Antonio hospitals while Officer Roberto Cortinas was released after care at Laredo Medical Center. The gunman, Antonio Gerardo Rodriguez, died of injuries in the violent exchange in the parking lot of a Stripes store at Hillside and McPherson Road.
“I was in charge now, and I knew I had to be strong for my department. My priority was getting the four injured officers and their families whatever was needed,” Chief Treviño said of the critical incident.
“Personal emotions ran high,” he added.
He recalled the speed at which the scene unfolded 11 days into his tenure and how indebted he feels to the Laredo Fire Department and Emergency Rescue Units and the Laredo Medical Center staff for the speed and diligence with which the four officers were treated.
He noted, too, that Laredoans, the local law enforcement community, and representatives of departments throughout the country responded with prayers and support. He said that the “extended blue family” of the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff’s office “were instantly present making the injured officers and their families feel at home.”
Just as the dark news of the events of June 2 was weighted with life threatening consequences, Treviño said the good news from the surgeons of Brooke Army Medical Center and University Hospital told of the rapid recovery of the injured officers.
“The best feeling ever was hearing this news,” he said, adding, “Within two days two officers were headed back home with a hero’s welcome waiting for them. One more officer left to go — Agapito Perez has been transferred out of ICU, the result of all the prayers from so many people from all over the world, it seemed.”
The Chief spoke of “endless miracles — no civilian casualties other than the innocent murder victim and the suspect that disregarded all human life that afternoon. The feelings of great humility and thanks are very present heading into my second week as Chief of this great organization. I am thankful for the blessings from our citizens who we love to serve and protect, and I am thankful that the Laredo PD is going to be complete once more as soon as Agapito is well enough to come back. His hero’s welcome will be waiting for him.”
Treviño said he had newfound appreciation for his role “as leader of the best Police Department anywhere, which works to protect the best city in the world. We could have been making other arrangements right now, and that is not something I can say without a lump in my throat.”
-MEG
City’s 11th Chief of Police ready to ramp up
professionalism, communication, and service
Laredo Police Department Chief Claudio Treviño Jr. who was hired by the Laredo City Council at its May 22 meeting will manage a force of 468 officers and 75 civilian personnel and an annual budget of $65 million.
His salary is $163,196.
The interview with Chief Treviño was not one of contemplative ponderings or what-ifs. Rather it was one answered with quick responses and plans well considered about the philosophy and measures behind good policing put to practice.
Treviño is articulate about a department that he says can work smarter through the use of new technology and predictive analytics, the revival of community policing, the ramping up of its level of professionalism, re-training, and refreshing the ‘serve’ part of the department’s motto “to serve and protect.”
Treviño joined the Laredo Police Department in 1996 after six years of service in the Air Force in Honduras, Guantanamo Bay, Florida, Germany, and the Gulf War.
He served as a patrol officer and a field training officer until 2000, when he became a crime scene investigator in the special investigations unit that handles family violence and crimes against children. He became a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) instructor in family violence at the South Texas Regional Police Academy.
When Treviño was promoted to sergeant in 2005, he transferred to Management Information Systems (MIS) and implemented, among other measures, advanced technology that eliminated paper police reports.
A 2009 promotion to lieutenant moved him to the support detail that supervised 911 calls, property and evidence, and communications.
He became deputy chief in 2013 and supervisor of criminal investigations for crimes against persons and auto theft. In that position, he supervised 65 investigators, three lieutenants, one captain, and 12 sergeants.
Treviño said that according to FBI models, LPD is 100 officers shy for a city of 91 square miles and a population of about 250,000. “Other studies will tell you we are behind, but not by that much,” he said, adding that increasing the force by even just 12 more officers would provide more services.
“The use of predictive analytics of existing data gives us a future scope of forward looking insights that tell us where we might be more effective later. It directs us to enforcement where it is needed so we can aim resources at that area,” Treviño said, adding that LPD uses COMPSTAT comparative statistics data and software called Real Time Crime Center, which provides officers real time reports, support, and monitoring.
According to Treviño, one of LPD’s most effective tools is Citizen Observer, a communications tool that helps find criminals through posted photos or video that originate from Facebook. “It’s an anonymous way to send us information via Facebook Messenger. The police departments of Austin, San Antonio, and Brownsville are some of the cities that have implemented this with good results,” he continued.
He said that information sharing with other law enforcement entities at local, state, and federal levels is critical, and effective. “We have the data on criminal activity and accidents locally. Let’s make it tell us something that is useful to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office, Border Patrol, DEA, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Department of Justice, and the local school districts. The monthly meetings we have to share high profile cases with the other agencies have spelled the recovery of 25 stolen vehicles. We referred the GPS pinging of one vehicle to Border Patrol who in turn shared it with the Mexican Army which followed the signal to the yard in Nuevo Laredo where stolen cars were stored,” he continued, adding that the City had given him the opportunity to implement “this type of forward thinking project with data, radio, and contacts with other agencies.”
Treviño said that the lessons of Ferguson, Baltimore, and Dallas point to the need for a revival of community policing in the training of officers. “We are here to serve and protect, but it’s time to look at ‘serve’ again, to bring back the values of Blue Courage Training that connect us to the community and the community to us.” He said that officers need to “interact with children at play in parks, include more adult volunteers in our community events, and bring in the members of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts. Through training, participation, and communication, we can involve more of the community.”
He said the department has retrofitted an old City bookmobile into a mobile community outreach platform for use by the PD’s community relations unit at field games and tournaments.
The department’s level of professionalism is another area the new chief will address.
“I’m big on training and on my involvement with the Police Academy,” Treviño stressed.
“We can train in certain areas of study to prepare officers to become better investigators and information gatherers by going back to the Reid technique for interrogations. This helps them write better reports and provide better testimony in court,” he elaborated, adding that LPD has initiated a focus on officer health and physical fitness “to make them safer and let them find resiliency for the high stress levels of police work.”
He said the four-day schedule of 10-hour shifts for patrol officers has enhanced officer safety. “It allows them to decompress emotionally and physically. The three days off allows them real time with their families. This has boosted morale and translated to a drop in sick leave,” he said, adding, “This and our fitness program will spell long term gains for the department.”
Treviño said continued state training for supervisors refreshes leadership strategies and moves them up the ranks. He said he wants to establish working connections between divisions and have investigators mentor patrol officers.
Asked what LPD case in his 21 years of service remained most memorable, he said it was the 2001 case of Sandra Luz Bearden, the 28-year-old woman who enslaved a 12-year-old girl from Veracruz with shackles in the backyard of the Bearden residence. The child had been a nanny to Bearden’s four-year-old son until Bearden began an inhumane regimen of beatings, starvation, and shackles. A painter at an adjacent home spotted the horror and alerted police. Bearden would receive three five-year sentences, two 60-year sentences, one 20-year sentence, and one 99-year sentence for injury to a child, aggravated kidnapping, and extraneous offenses.
“We don’t know the demons in someone. What could make this woman make this child live in the elements in chains without food or water? There is a moment in every case where you understand precisely what has happened. I’ve never forgotten that moment in this case,” Treviño said.
He talked about what he sees in a young patrol officer that indicates he or she will serve well and move up the ranks to become an integral part of the department.
“I see dedication, commitment, work ethic, and being on time. Who really shows up, who is eager to learn? If a patrol officer or an investigator are good at what they do, they may want to remain in those positions, but there are options to move into another department and to learn new skills,” Treviño said.
A first generation American and a native of San Antonio, Claudio Treviño Jr. is the second of six children born to Berta and Claudio Treviño Sr.
The Chief and his wife, Mayela Meraz Treviño, are the parents of Claudio Treviño III, 19, a student at Texas A&M University – College Station; Vanessa, 16, a student at United High School; and Fernando, 13, a student at Trautmann Elementary School.
Chief Treviño graduated from South San Antonio High School in 1989. He earned a degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M International University in 2014, minoring in sociology. He is a graduate of the FBI Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Quantico, Virginia.
