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LEAD-IN BY HOST JACKSON ALLERS: Are relations between the Houston Police Department and minority communities improving? Richard Hanna and Renee Feltz investigate: STORY: "7/16/02, James Sullivan, [age] 17. Shot in abdomen and survived ... by HPD officer" [list of names, dates and the type of police brutality continues in background of story] Names of victims of police brutality since July 11 of this year were read at a protest in front of [a] Downtown Houston police station yesterday afternoon. The large number of Latino surnames in the list pointed toward the issue of problems of police working in the minority communities, especially in the city's growing Latino community. Persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or Central and South American or other Spanish origin make up 38 percent of Houston's population but only 19 percent of the patrolmen in the Houston Police Department. According to Robert Hirsch, Director of Media Relations for HPD, the department is always aggressively pursuing minority hires. Two sisters at yesterday's protest respond to HPD's hiring initiative. "People in general probably will be more trusting if there is more diversity in the, like, the police force, in general. I can't say it would actually make the system work bettter, but it would make the public a little more comfortable with it, just considering everybody." Other sister: "If they were to work toward hiring more minority cops, I wouldn't support it. I wouldn't support the hiring of any more cops, period." Dr. Sanders Anderson Jr., associate professor in the department of public affairs at Texas Southern University, teaches political science. Many police recruits come through his mandatory courses where issues of police behavior in the minority communities are raised. "I think that there have been some attempt by the police to respond in some way or another. But from what I've seen and what I've read about certain segments of the community, there are still tension with the police department and particularly what you might call the working class portion of the community. The Hispanic community seems to have many more issues involved right now, or at least as much as the African-Americans, but they seem to be much more visible." Macario Sosa, President of the local chapter of National Latino Peace Officer's Association, acknowledges that the police do have some problems when working with Latinos, but feels steps are being taken to improve relations. "There's still a language barrier. For the most part, it's the biggest problem. And just by providing officers on the street, officers in investigative divisions that can provide that communication gap, that's the biggest thing we have to overcome." According to Officer Robert Hirsch, director of media relations for HPD, the department is now offering in-service classes in conversational Spanish if they can fit it into their schedule. Other problems outlined by Sosa include a lack of trust among Latino immigrants and police. "When we're dealing with immigrants from Mexico or from other countries down south, there's a lack of confidence in police down there because of corruption or what not in their own countries." Lack of confidence among minorities have been shaped by high-profile police brutality incidents such as the deaths of Jose Campos Torres and Ida B.E. Delaney at the hands of Houston police officers. Dr. Anderson notes some changes that were made in the hiring of minority officers since these cases, starting with former police chief Lee Brown in April of 1982. "When it comes to Houston of course, the present mayor used to be the police chief. And the present police chief now; Bradford is an African-American. And I know they have been sensitive to certain kinds of issues. The problems that might exist now are probably those relating to the structure itself and the minds of those who want to become police officers and I think that that has to be dealt with a lot more." Lloyd Parker, Director of Shape community center located in the Third Ward, a historically African-American community, agrees that even if HPD hires more minority officers, problems will continue to exist. "It's not how many police you have in a community, it's what system of policing they operate under. And I don't care if you're Black, Latino, Asian or whatever, or even white, if the system that you function under is corrupt, how can you not be corrupt and stay there?" Dr. Anderson acknowledges the good intentions that many minority officers start out with when they join the police force. "Well, oftentimes what happens is that one joins the force, and after having been on the force, then one becomes a part of it. It's hard to break out ... and then the routine of the job and what other people say; one is socialized into that kind of thinking, one has to work against socialization in any field, in any area. But being a police officer, a kind of para-military organization, the challenge is much more difficult, I think. But there has to be a constant monitoring from the top." Police hiring changes have made the force more reflective of the African-American community in Houston. 25 percent of the population is African American, as are 20 percent of HPD patrolmen. Protestors yesterday acknowledge the changes may make them feel safer. "I might actually feel safer if it's a minority cop, but I mean, police are police." Well-established members of Houston's minority communities like Deloyd Parker, also remain skeptical. "Colors of the people have changed, you might have a few more people of color there than you had then. You might have a few more people in positions of authority, or quote unquote 'illusions of authority' than you had then. But the system remains the same. I think Thomas Malonson wrote a song a long time ago that said, 'Nothing's changing but the faces, but the system is still in tact.'" Richard Hanna, in collaboration with Renee Feltz, KPFT News, Houston.
E-mail Richard Hanna & Renee Feltz at rad@hipweb.net & chickpea_@ziplip.com respectively.
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