New Mexico family honors fallen deputy with Officer Street Survival Training
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Officers across New Mexico are getting additional training because of a local family who knows the pain of losing a son who wore a badge.
“When you see an officer, like the one last week, that gets shot when he stopped to help the person, that brings up old wounds,” said Jim McGrane, founder of Officer Street Survival Training, Deputy James F. McGrane.
In 2006, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy James McGrane was killed in the line of duty.
“He walked up to the truck and he got to the window and that was it, was shot right there,” Jim said. “When he was killed, we were kind of dumbfounded. We didn’t know what we were going to do. How we were going to keep going, and it’s really helped up get through it.”
A few months after the funeral, they asked the BCSO sheriff how they could help prevent another tragedy.
“We wanted to make sure they’re safe out there and at that time, the sheriff says, ‘Well how about training?'” Jim said.
More than 400 officers are attending this year’s training. For the majority of them, it’s their first time.
“About 80% of the officers in here have never been to this training and we’ve been doing it for 16 years,” Jim said.
Jim explained that during the training they go over several things, including taking a look at past body camera footage to see what an officer did right or wrong.
BCSO deputy Greg Martinez has been on the force for 35 years and has attended the training since it started in 2006.
“It’s always new training and there’s always new concepts of safety that you can learn,” Martinez said. “So every time I come to this training, I learn something new. Everything’s constantly changing in the criminal world and we’re trying to get ahead of the game.”
Jim says the nonprofit relies on donations to keep the training going year after year – especially because officers and deputies can attend the training for free.
To learn more about the non-profit, click here.
To donate to the non-profit, click here. You can also send donations by mail to PO Box 37337, Albuquerque, NM 87176.