Latino Police Officers in the United States: An Examination of Emerging Trends and Issues

Considering the long-lasting and complicated history of U.S. race and ethnic relations, the multiple array of issues currently confronting both ethnic and racial communities, and the shifting trends in the ethnic/racial landscape, this book seeks to provide a comprehensive account of the simultaneous interaction of pressing historical and contemporary forces shaping the Latino experience as well as police-minority relations to better understand the current state of policing and gain further insight into the future role of Latino police in American law enforcement across the country. Delineating the confines of policing a highly diverse and multicultural society in the twenty-first century, this book conjoins historical, theoretical, and empirical research placing Latino policing within a broader law enforcement and community context. Major topics include the need for Latino police officers; employment of Latino officers by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies; Chicano police officers working in the Latino community; Latino officers, policy, practice, and ethnic realities; Mexican American law enforcement; bridging the gaps, future research, and change in American institutions; policy recommendations toward a new police force; and the future of Latino officers in the American police. Additional issues highlighted include racial/ethnic profiling, police brutality, underpolicing, and overpolicing which challenge the quest for representation, equality, justice, and due process. Finally, the contributing authors demonstrate that the lack of knowledge on Latino police and the overall American police is not inevitable, and thus the book concludes with policy and research recommendations to help bridge this long-neglected void; ultimately, the creation of a new police force for the twenty-first century. The text represents a most timely and essential tool for all levels of policing, law enforcement administrators, criminal justice educators, civic managers, criminologists, sociologists, and others vested in police reform.