The Chicano Squad, Houston's pioneering all-Latino homicide unit, formed in the aftermath of Joe Campos Torres' 1977 police killing, is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a spotlight on A&E through a new documentary set to hit screens this Labor Day. This unit, comprised solely of Hispanic officers back in 1979, addressed a gaping language barrier that hindered crime resolution within the Spanish-speaking communities of Houston, according to a report from ABC13.
The lack of cultural connection and linguistic capabilities had perpetuated a backlog of unsolved crimes; however, the Chicano Squad, as members such as Jim Montero and Jose Selvera rooted in the barrios themselves, rose to the occasion to bridge these divides, reports the Houston Chronicle, with Montero recalling detours mid-arrest to serve as an impromptu translator, an indication of his future role in a team that improved the department's homicide clearance rates despite initial underequipping and looming skepticism.
Despite hurdles, including allegations of misconduct against squad member Robert Gatewood and termination of the unit in 2010, the Chicano Squad's community-oriented approach made significant inroads with the city's Latino population, as Harris County prosecutor Ruben Perez, who worked with the squad, pointed out the essential nature of the trust built with local communities, “You can have all the resources, all the gear and so forth, but if you’re not genuine with your witnesses, with the community — the community will know that you’re not genuine. They can feel it,” he informed the Houston Chronicle.
The documentary showcases the squad's triumphs and also the adversity they faced within and outside the police department, with Hernandez recounting an instance wherein they were tasked with finding a witness based solely on a name and succeeded in a single night, their practical knowledge of Spanish slang and their ability to infiltrate into the core of Latino neighborhoods set them apart; as a result, policymakers, and Houston's own, watched as the Chicano Squad reshaped the discourse around community policing and diversity in law enforcement, according to ABC13.
Now, nearly four decades later, the impact of the Chicano Squad endures: the Houston Police Department boasts about 2,000 Hispanic officers, marking a profound shift from the days when minority officers like those pioneering first members were a rarity.
