Santa Fe– Motor team officers from the New Mexico State Police and Motor Transportation Police traveled to Phoenix Arizona on April 27th and 28th to participate in the 16th Annual Southwest Motorcycle Training & Competition.
Over 150 motor officers from California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico gathered for the training which is fund raiser for Special Olympics. This event is a great opportunity for the motor officers to improve their riding skills.
The first day riders practiced the courses and exchanged training ideas and techniques with other departments. During the day-two, several different competitions were held to include individual and team competition.
The competition is a timed course which consisted of several exercises with penalties assessed for cone touches, knocking over cones and putting the foot down on the ground. Awards were also given in the different events for different classes of motorcycles.
The following is a breakdown of awards won by DPS officers:
BMW 1200 Class
- Pairs ride 2nd place – NMSP Sergeant Marc Meir and Officer Scott Merrill
- Team ride 2nd place – NMSP Sergeant Marc Meir, Sergeant Bill Thornock, Officers Scott Merrill and Justin Davis
- Individual overall 3rd place – NMSP Officer Scott Merrill
Open Class
- Team ride 1st place – MTPD Officers Josh Perea, Mike Montoya and NMSP Sergeant Jeff Rey and Officer Mike Cruz
Individual Overall – NMSP Officer Justin Davis
Motor teams from the Rio Rancho and Albuquerque Police Departments also participated and in all New Mexico teams brought home 29 awards. The training competition also raised approximately $400,000 for the Special Olympics.
The Department of Public Safety would like to congratulate all of the officers and teams for their exceptional performance in this worthy event.
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