LAPD Rapped for Not Promoting Latinos

A Latino adviser to the Los Angeles Police Commission chastised the Police Department Tuesday for what he described as a “glaring under-representation” of Latinos in the department’s top ranks.

Henry Corrales, a member of the Police Commission’s Hispanic Advisory Council, told commissioners that some younger Latino officers feel they have little chance of promotion to administrative positions.

Captain is the highest rank now held by a Latino officer in the department. And of 66 captains in the department, only two are Latinos.

Overall, there are 1,044 Latinos in the 7,000-officer department. Latinos make up less than 6.2% of the department’s lieutenants and 6.8% of its sergeants, according to Corrales.

“There is a current, glaring under-representation,” said Corrales, whose 21-member council expects to complete a comprehensive report within three weeks on the status of Los Angeles’ Latino officers.

Responding to Corrales’ assertions, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said that a large, influential Latino representation in the department is essential to mirror the size and influence of Los Angeles’ Latino community.

Latinos make up 28.6% of the estimated 3.1 million people who live in the city of Los Angeles.

But in explaining why there are no top-ranking Latinos, Gates blamed City Hall-imposed budget cuts that, he said, have prevented him from filling three vacant deputy chief positions. Latinos, Gates said, would possibly move up if he were allowed to fill those jobs.

“As far as policy, we’ve had a number (of Latino officers) promoted since I’ve been chief,” Gates said. “I’d like to see women promoted, too, but the fact is we’re not promoting anyone. We are trying, but when you don’t have the positions, there’s no where for them to go.”

Last month, the department’s senior Latino officer, Capt. Joe E. Sandoval, retired to become chief of the California State Police. Gates said he believes that Sandoval would have been promoted to commander had the Police Department’s management budget not been trimmed.

Commission member Barbara L. Schlei agreed with Gates that minorities and women have made progress within the department in recent years. But Schlei discounted Gates’ explanation that budget woes were to blame for Latinos failing to achieve equal management footing with Anglos.

“You cannot attribute the failure of women and minorities to attain higher rank to the loss of four little positions,” Schlei said in reference to the deputy chief vacancies.

In November, 1980, after being sued for alleged discrimination in hiring practices, the Police Department formally agreed to hire more women and minorities.

Police administrators agreed to step up hiring of blacks and Latinos until their numbers in the department reached “the proportions of blacks and Hispanics in the labor force of the Los Angeles Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.” The department was to seek that goal by hiring 22.5% blacks and 22.5% Latino among all entry-level appointments.

The 1980 agreement did not set proportional standards for the promotion of minority officers.