San Antonio Police Department MEDIA SERVICES DETAIL/PIO OFFICE INFORMATION

The San Antonio Police Department Media Services Detail/Public Information Office (PIO) is the official liaison between the Department and the Media. The PIO office is staffed by a sergeant, one patrol officer, a civilian public information officer, and an administrative assistant.
	Sgt. Chris Benavides currently supervises the SAPD Media Services Detail, a post he was appointed to in May 2009. He serves as the Chief’s primary spokesperson for all major SAPD events ranging from officer involved shootings to hostage situations. Sgt. Benavides has served in the SAPD Patrol Division, Crime Response Unit (CRU), Gang Detail, Tactical Response Unit (TRU), Violent Crime Apprehension Team (V-CAT), and Prue SAFFE Unit prior to his appointment as Director of Media Services.
	Sandy Gutierrez began work with the San Antonio Police Department in 1980 and has served as Senior Public Information Officer for SAPD since 1988. In that position, Sandy has been interviewed by all major broadcast affiliates and print media agencies in San Antonio, and has also coordinated interviews for national TV programs such as "60 Minutes", "Dateline NBC", and "20/20", as well as with BBC News in the UK.
	Officer Joe Rios joined SAPD in 2001, served 3 years in the Patrol division at West Patrol and South Patrol Substations, and was assigned to the PIO office in 2004. He handles press releases, interviews with the media, and serves as SAPD spokesperson for major events.
The office manager for Media Services/PIO is Administrative Assistant Romana Lopez. The PIO Office can be reached by calling (210)207-7579, or by e-mail at the link below.