User:Dhsimms/History of the Houston Police Department

The murder of a young Latino Vietnam War veteran named Joe Campos Torres by a group of Houston Police Department officers in 1977, set off a scandal that prompted the HPD to create Houston’s Chicano Squad.^[1] The murder of Torres sparked protests around the city. The HPD was forced to be proactive about the situation. Their solution was the formation of the squad. The “Chicano Squad,” as they became known was assigned to patrol and serve predominantly Spanish-speaking communities in Houston. One of the main reasons that they were assigned to this community was due to the high rate of Latino victims connected to unsolved crimes during an uptick in homicides in 1979.^[1] The language barrier that existed between non-Spanish speaking officers and the Latinx community was one of the main factors in this predicament of unsolved crime.^[2] The original members of the Chicano Squad consisted of: Detectives Cecil Mosqueda, Jose Selvera Jr., Joe De Leon, Robert Gatewood, Lupe Hernandez. Officer Raymond Gonzalez replaced Joe De Leon shortly after the group was formed.^[2] The group had a case clearance rate of 91 percent in 1997 which earned them recognition by the National Latino Peace Officers. On August 20th, 2019, Houston’s City Council celebrated the group’s 40th anniversary through a proclamation ceremony.^[2] The Chicano Squad served the Latinx community from 1979 to 2010. In 2019, journalist Eva Ruth Moravec teamed up with actress and social justice advocate, Cristela Alonzo, to tell the story of the Chicano Squad in a thirteen episode series available on Apple Podcasts.^[3]

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The Origin Story of Houston's Chicano Squad

The murder of a young Latino Vietnam War veteran named Joe Campos Torres by a group of Houston Police Department officers in 1977 served as the catalyst for a series of events that would have an impact on the city of Houston. Campos Torres was arrested for disorderly conduct by a group of police officers with the Houston Police Department on May 5, 1977.^[4] Instead of taking him to a nearby jail, they took Campos Torres to a secluded spot near Buffalo Bayou called, The Hole.^[5] From here, they proceeded to take him to the city jail but he was badly beaten that the officers were ordered by their supervisor to take Campos Torres to a local hospital.^[5] The officers disobeyed the command and instead took him back to The Hole where they continued to beat him.^[5] Witnesses on the other side of the river would later recall hearing a struggle and then a splash.^[5] Eyewitness testimony from Carless Elliott, a rookie cop at the scene that night, proved vital in understanding what ensued. Elliott stated in court that one of his fellow officers said, "let's see if this wetback can swim," as Campos Torres' body plunged into the waters of the bayou.^[5] Three days later, his body was found floating in the bayou.^[4] To this day, Campos Torres' murder remains one of the most horrific in-custody death in Texas History.^[6]

Officers Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando were charged with murder while three others were dismissed from the police force. No criminal charges were brought against them.^[4] At the state level, however, Denson and Orlando were found guilty of negligent homicide and were sentenced to one year's probation and a fine of one dollar.^[4] The murder of Campos Torres and the leniency of the sentencing given to the officers incited community outrage and protesting would soon follow.^[4] Previous to Campos Torres' murder, violent and racially-tinted encounters with the HPD had deteriorated the relationship between the police and Houston's Black and Latinx community.^[5] The HPD was forced to be proactive about the situation. Their solution was the formation of an all-Latino police squad.

The “Chicano Squad,” as they became known was assigned to patrol and serve predominantly Spanish-speaking communities in Houston. The appointment of these officers didn't come without criticism. Provided with limited resources and no detective training, their abilities were doubted from the beginning.^[5] Nonetheless, one of the main reasons that they were assigned to this community was due to the high rate of Latinx victims connected to unsolved crimes during an uptick in homicides in 1979. The language barrier that existed between non-Spanish speaking officers and the Latinx community was one of the main factors in this predicament of unsolved crime. This was due partially to the low number of spanish-speaking officers in the force. Between 1950 and 1970, fewer than 20 Latinx officers had joined the force.^[5] By 1977, HPD had hired 161 Latinx officers to serve a Spanish-speaking community of more than 200,000 individuals.^[5]

The original members of the Chicano Squad consisted of: Detectives Cecil Mosqueda, Jose Selvera Jr., Joe De Leon, Robert Gatewood, Lupe Hernandez. Officer Raymond Gonzalez replaced Joe De Leon shortly after the group was formed. Sergeant Cecil Mosqueda is the only member of the Chicano Squad who served the entire duration of the the squad's service.^[7] Their appointment was historic, it was the first time in HPD history that Latinx officers had ever been assigned to a specialized division.^[7] Throughout the years, the number of officers in the squad grew. At one point, they had up to 12 members and had at least 30 officers come on board in addition to the original members.^[7]

By 1997, the group had a case clearance rate of 91 percent which earned them recognition by the National Latino Peace Officers. On August 20th, 2019, Houston’s City Council celebrated the group’s 40th anniversary through a proclamation ceremony. The Chicano Squad served the Latinx community from 1979 to 2010.

In 2019, journalist Eva Ruth Moravec teamed up with actress and social justice advocate, Cristela Alonzo, to tell the story of the Chicano Squad in a thirteen-episode series available on Apple Podcasts.