Because almost 50% of the population in the city of Los Angeles is Latino, and more than half of the officers are Latino, the voices calling for the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to be Latino, have begun to rise, especially they are asking that Mayor Karen Bass appoint former deputy police chief Robert “Bobby” Arcos.
“It’s time we had a Latino police chief. “We are talking about more than 180 years that the city of Los Angeles has existed as part of the state of California and the United States, and in those nearly two centuries, a Latino or Latina has never held the position of chief of the LAPD,” he said. the activist Juan José Gutiérrez.
He mentioned that more than half of the population of Los Angeles is of Latino origin, and within the police department itself, more than half of its men and women are also Latino.
“Out of elemental justice and honor to the fight for the exercise of full rights led by the immortal martyr, the Reverend Martin Luther King, it is now up to a Latino to be the first head of the LAPD.”
Specifically, he said that Robert “Bobby” Arcos is a great candidate with practical experience of nearly four decades as a police officer and the academic preparation that would allow him to deploy an effective service in a balanced way, seeking the professionalization of officers.
“It must be understood that the Los Angeles public are not enemies of the police, and if we look for ways to get closer, we will have a police force that protects us that we are all proud of.”
He said Arcos’ practical experience in the LAPD gives him a perspective that goes beyond being Latino.
“He would work for all the diverse communities of Los Angeles, regardless of whether you are Latino. Arcos is a man with experience and sufficient preparation to be the head of the LAPD regardless of his race.”
If the mayor appoints him as head of the LAPD, it would greatly help his political career, and he would be fulfilling his campaign promise that he would include diversity in his work team.
“Bobby” Arcos, along with former Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell and LAPD Deputy Chief Emanda Tingirides, are the three finalist candidates from whom the police chief of the city of Los Angeles will be chosen.
Joshua Montalvo, a merchant in south-central Los Angeles, owner of three small businesses Melody Rosethe Bear House Giants and Joshua Montalvo Instrumentssaid that with a Latino as head of the LAPD they would feel more confident to express their needs, fears and demands.
“We would be filled with a lot of pride, since it is time for our community to be taken more into account.”
He made it clear that given the growth of crime, which is unstoppable in Los Angeles, residents need to be heard.
“We need representatives to support us and give us hope that there will be a change; and a Latino as head of the LAPD would be very good in these difficult times.”
He commented that it hurts them to see what is happening in the city, and especially in the south center of Los Angeles with so much insecurity.
“Here we started, here we live. It would be easy to move and start in a place we don’t know, but here we will endure. We know and are sure that positive changes will come. Our community is full of love and we just need to be heard and taken into account.”
Martha Ofelia Jiménez, an activist in Boyle Heights, said that the city of Los Angeles deserves to have a police chief who is a Latino like Chief Arcos, who has a community profile.
“Latinos are the majority, and it is time for the police chief to be a reflection of his population, and to speak our Spanish language. “It would be an act of justice for Mayor Bass to appoint a Latino as chief of the LAPD.”