NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico State Police took home the gold after some of their officers showcased their expertise in the annual Robot Rodeo. The event this year was held in Aurora, Colorado, from August 11 to 15.
Three officers with the New Mexico State Police’s bomb squad, Officer Rudy Graham, Officer Victor Flores, and Officer Anthony Montanadis, represented the state. The event comes with a bit of competition, further expanding officers’ knowledge on tech from drones to unmanned robotics.
The group’s commander, Sgt. Gabe Luna has participated in the past, but says this year their entry into the competition was a late one and a surprise. He says in general, his officers engage in almost 240 hours of training each year.
“But within those training scenarios, they were proving that they were operating at a high level. I believe there were around 22 training scenarios in total that they did operate on. And from what I was told, they were pretty much running in first place since the start of the competition,” said Sgt. Gabe Luna.
The last time New Mexico State Police took first place in the competition was in 2008.
There were 12 agencies in this year’s Robot Rodeo, including the military, other law enforcement, and international teams from Korea and Czechoslovakia.
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