Hispanics Still Underrepresented on Nation`s Police Forces

The appointment of Matt Rodriguez to be superintendent of the Chicago Police Department is one of several recent prominent Hispanic police appointments nationwide, yet studies show Latinos remain significantly underrepresented in police forces throughout the country, including Chicago.

In the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots, in which Hispanics accounted for more than half of the total arrests, there is a renewed focus on the role of Hispanics in policing-from the top posts to the cop on the beat.

Not only do relatively few Hispanics work in law enforcement, but in many big-city departments, including Chicago`s, the bulk of Hispanics on the force are clustered in the patrol ranks. “In truth, there are only a few Hispanics heading large law enforcement agencies in this country,” said Wilfred Navarro, chief of the Houston Airport Police, a force of 180 officers that is 24 percent Hispanic.

Last week, during three days of hearings by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on ethnic tensions in Chicago, local civil-rights advocates decried the low numbers of minority officers, saying increasing their numbers would be essential if police-community tensions were to be reduced here.

Experts say the reasons for the dearth of Hispanics in law enforcement are complex. First, the high Hispanic high school dropout rate limits the numbers eligible for recruitment. Those numbers are further affected by cultural and age barriers.

A cultural distrust of police makes the profession unappealing to some Hispanics, and the lack of role models makes the job seem unattainable to others. And many Hispanics simply are too young: in Pilsen, a Mexican immigrant community on the city`s Near Southwest Side, for instance, approximately half the population is under age 17.

Still, many police departments are seeking ways to recruit qualified Hispanics.

“It comes down to a matter of fairness,“ said Joseph McNamara, the former police chief of San Jose, Calif., appointed in 1976 to lead a department at odds with the Hispanic community. “You cannot tell minorities that we are not prejudiced, that we serve you the same as everyone else and then have them look around and see that they are not represented on the force. You just don`t have any credibility.”

Putting Hispanics on the force is also sound police practice. In the Chicago area, communities from Aurora to Elgin to Rolling Meadows recently have tried to combat gang activity by having officers live and work in Hispanic neighborhoods or apartment complexes.

“I don`t believe we can change the world, but I wanted to break the stereotype of what Hispanics can and cannot do,” said Margarita Rodriguez, 27, explaining why she joined the Chicago police two years ago.

Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican who grew up amid the gang violence of Logan Square, has been a member of the Shakespeare District`s tactical unit for about a year, a specialized unit addressing the specific problems of the Logan Square and Humboldt Park area.

“There are just hundreds of instances where my background has made a difference, but a recent example involves a child who was sexually assaulted. She spoke no English and wasn`t really sure what had happened to her. I was able to . . . break the fear and the language barrier and get enough detailed information for an arrest.”

Besides Rodriguez, other recent Hispanic appointments include Louis Cobarruviaz as police chief in San Jose, Calif., and Eduardo Gonzales, who recently was appointed to lead the Tampa, Fla., Police Department.

The ascension of Rodriguez is expected to help bring a turnabout in young Hispanics` perception of the law as a career. As the city`s top cop and the leader of the nation`s second-largest police department, he is a potent cultural symbol.

“If you don`t see people from your ethnic background involved in the career, whether it`s the law, engineering or the media, you don`t see it as a viable alternative. That`s why Matt Rodriguez will be a great example for all the Hispanic kids out there with names such as Rodriguez, Sanchez, Mendez,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. L. Felipe Sanchez.

But hiring officers who speak the language and understand the culture is not enough, said Phil Montez, western regional director for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

“I`m not sure it helps the Hispanic community simply to have lots of Hispanic officers,” Montez said.

“The attitude from the top on down must be one of fairness and impartiality and the Hispanics on the force must have a positive attitude toward the community and be committed to it.” Rodriguez aside, Hispanics on the Chicago police force are clustered in the patrolman ranks, accounting for 645 out of 9,011, according to a March 1992 study by Art Parra, President of the Latin American Police Association (LAPA).

“Overall, including all ranks, Hispanics make up only 6.19 percent or 775 of the total force of 12,527 people,” Parra said. “That`s just unacceptable, particularly taking into account that Hispanics are now 20 percent of Chicago`s population.

“We are not at all satisfied with the numbers that we`ve got, but we are the fastest growing group in the department,” said Rodriguez, adding that May figures showed that 901 Hispanics were in the department, accounting for 7.41 percent of 12,161.

The low number of Hispanics on the Chicago force is not unique.

Houston, a city of 1.6 million people, 27.6 percent Hispanic, fields a force of 4,108 that is 12.6 percent Hispanic, a department spokesman said.

Los Angeles, which is 40 percent Hispanic, has a force of approximately 8,150 that is 22.09 percent Hispanic, the department says. New York City, with a population of 7.3 million, is 24.4 percent Hispanic. New York`s police force, the largest in the country at just over 27,000, is 13.5 percent Hispanic.

Little research has been done on Hispanics in law enforcement nationwide, but University of Nebraska professor Sam Walker found that court-ordered and voluntary affirmative-action plans in 19 of the nation`s 50 largest cities played a significant role in increased hiring of Hispanics and other minorities.

“It is important for police departments to reflect their community if they wish to serve it properly,” Walker said. “It also keeps the force from looking like an occupying army in the city it is supposed to serve.”

One barrier for Hispanics, particularly immigrants, is a cultural mistrust of police and a lack of understanding of the way police operate in this country, said Navarro, chief of the Houston Airport Police.

To overcome these cultural differences, the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA), recently received a $25,000 grant from the U.S. Justice Department to develop pilot programs aimed at familiarizing Hispanic immigrants with the law, said Navarro, who serves as president of HAPCOA.

In the Chicago area, a group of Hispanics formed the Hispanic Institute for Law Enforcement (HILE), a non-profit training and education group that was incorporated in 1982.

Rodriguez is chairman of the board, and during the years, using instructors from City Wide Colleges and law enforcement agencies, some 4,000 people have studied tutorial programs designed to assist Hispanics with the written and oral parts of the Chicago police exam, said Teresita Diaz Lewis, HILE program coordinator.

Sgt. Nelson Barreto, who joined the Chicago force 20 years ago when Hispanics represented 1.5 percent of the force said: “Compounding the difficulty is the fact that most of us do not have fathers and uncles and cousins in the police force, people who could let us in on what to expect.”