RRPD, Fire and Rescue hold car seat inspection clinic

The Rio Rancho Police Department, Rio Rancho Fire and Rescue and Safer New Mexico, a nonprofit that works to protect New Mexico families by battling traffic-related death and injury through education and prevention, partnered to hold the Germaine Casey Memorial Car Seat Inspection clinic Aug. 24 in Rio Rancho.

Casey, a former Rio Rancho Police Officer, died in a motorcycle crash while helping to escort former President George W. Bush on Aug. 27, 2007.

Casey, who was born and raised near Chicago, was a minor league baseball player for the Atlanta Braves organization during the 1980s. He later became a police officer in New Mexico, joining the Rio Rancho force. As he was providing an escort for visiting President Bush, his motorcycle accidently left the roadway and struck a tree. Casey later died from injuries at a nearby hospital. He was 40 years old.

There are memorials to Officer Casey’s memory at the Albuquerque Sunport, the scene of the fatal crash and at the Rio Rancho Veterans and Law Enforcement Memorial Park on Pinetree Rd.

“(Casey) was also a child passenger safety technician, and we worked a lot of these events together, so it's nice to kind of do this in in his memory because he was passionate about safety,” said Jerremy Manzanares , retired RRPD traffic sergeant and current chief operations officer for Safer New Mexico.

As the 17th anniversary of Casey’s death approaches, RRPD honored the fallen officer’s memory with the car seat clinic.

“I think he'd be proud. You know, one thing I can say about Germaine was that he loved to help people, and we saw it every day working with him,” Manzanares said. “He had fun doing it, and he was passionate about it.”

Certified car seat technicians were on hand in the Target parking lot to check if car seats are installed properly, if correct car seats are being used, and if car seats are expired or have been recalled.

Dozens of vehicles took advantage of RRPD’s car seat clinic. 30 car seats were checked and technicians found 24 of those seats were installed incorrectly.

Several police officers, firefighters and dispatchers helped out at the event to make sure kids are safe.

Det. Kimberly Hopper and Rio, RRPD’s first therapy dog, also were there to assist.

“Currently, three out of four car seats are being misused. That's not just here in New Mexico. I can tell you, the misuse rate is right around 75-77% that we're seeing,” Manzanares said. “We do events like these all across New Mexico, and we are seeing a lot of misuse of car seats. Obviously, using the car seat correctly will reduce serious injury and hopefully reduce child fatalities.”