The Roadrunner, Summer 1998 

Before there was any kind of magazine or newsletter, the state police would put out information about the department to the officers and the legislators in an annual report.  The first New Mexico State Police Annual Report was published in 1939.

The department printed a monthly bulletin in the early 1960s, which was distributed to all personnel.

In April 1967, Chief Joseph Black introduced the Headquarters Newsletter.  The two-paged newsletter was used to inform state police personnel about actions that the State Police Board was taking.  

In May 1968, the newsletter staff solicited departmental personnel for suggestions on naming the newsletter, which were to be sent in before of the next issue was published.

The June-July 1968 newsletter reported that they received a light response to the request to name the department’s newsletter. Three of the names received were selected for vote by Lieutenants Kingsbury and Moberly. The choices were Sagebrush Telegraph, Roadrunner, and The Outlook.  Ballots were sent out and personnel were to check the box next to the name of their choice and submit it to their district commander.

The August 1968 newsletter was the first to use the new name. The name chosen was The Roadrunner, which was suggested by Officer Les Dudley.  Lt. D.C. Kingsbury became the editor of The Roadrunner .  This issue was the first to have been printed at a print shop instead of mimeographed and would continue to be published every two to three months.

The second editor of The Roadrunner was Officer Ray Gallagher, who stayed in the  position for several issues, until the Personnel and Training Division replaced him.  The Roadrunner was an excellent publication, used to keep the members of the department informed on the changes and happenings throughout the state.  Each district and division would send in news for publication. 

Due to financial problems, The Roadrunner eventually stopped being published. Occasionally, over the next several years, newsletters were printed and distributed by the New Mexico State Police, The Criminal Justice Department, and the Department of Public Safety.

The New Mexico State Police Association was formed in 1985.  The association board put a plan together for an association newsletter that would be distributed to the membership.

In 1986, after Keith Bridges was elected as the first president of the New Mexico State Police Association, he was contacted by Brent-Wyatt-West, a publishing company located in Scottsdale, Arizona.  After much negotiation, a contract was signed which brought about the beginnings of the association’s official publication.  Prior to the first magazine being published, Keith Bridges’ term was completed and Mike Bowen took office as the second president of the association. The association’s first newsletter was published in the winter of 1988, which outlined the structure of the New Mexico State Police.

Mike Bowen felt a good name for the new publication would be The Roadrunner, in keeping with the historic name of prior state police publications.  Initially, the NMSP administration had been instrumental in the organization of the association, and a member of the DPS administration apparently felt compelled to retain some control over the direction of the association

and remarked that the new publication would be dubbed The Roadrunner only over her dead body.  During a conversation with a representative from Brent-Wyatt-West, Mike Bowen advised him the name of the Association’s newsletter would indeed be The Roadrunner.  

The representative informed him that it  had already named The Beat. This name would coincide with bumper stickers the publishing company had planned to distribute to citizens of New Mexico for marketing purposes.  After a brief discussion with the owner of Brent-Wyatt-West and a comment about canceling the contract, the new publication was properly named The Roadrunner and the bumper sticker idea was immediately squelched.  Mike Bowen believed those type of bumper stickers would give the subscribers a

It was during the Mike Bowen's presidency that the very first association magazine was published, on December 16, 1988.  The magazine would be published twice a year with hopes of becoming a quarterly issue.  The publishing company was responsible for selling advertisements for the magazine and $10,000 was to be donated from each issue to the Association.  The first issue was dedicated to retired Sergeant Brent Bateman who died of cancer.   The Association’s Executive Board named Officer Mike Snow as the first editor of The Roadrunner.  After about one year, Officer Norman Rhoades was appointed as the second editor and retained that position until he was elected president of the association.  

During this time, the association changed publishers from Brent Wyatt-West to Contract Communications, a publishing company based in Virginia.  Officer Raul Martinez was selected as the third editor and was later assisted by Officer Rich Libicer as co-editor.  In April 2000, the Association again changed publishers from Contract Communications to Genesis Publishers, an Albuquerque based publishing company.