Tension Between Latinos, Police Lingers in Westminster

T he Setting: A patio at a neighborhood senior center. Westminster Police Chief James I. Cook, looking a bit tense, chats with Sigler Park-area Latinos during an afternoon of food and music.

In the crowd is Amanda Martinez. Cook excuses himself from one group and walks to her. It is a somber but cordial meeting, the first time the two have met.

Only 6 months earlier, one of Cook’s younger police officers shot and killed Martinez’s son, Frank Martinez, 18. The shooting has led to a $100-million lawsuit by the Martinez family against Cook and his department, and to bitter tensions among police, the Martinez family and Latinos who have formed a support group named Manos Unidos.

Police have maintained that Frank Martinez and an angry mob attacked three officers during a July 15 birthday party for Amanda Martinez in the family’s back yard. The attack allegedly occurred after police tried to question Joel Martinez Jr., Frank’s brother, about a gang incident in the neighborhood.

Martinez was shot once by an unidentified police officer when he allegedly charged an officer with a beer bottle, police have said. His family, however, has claimed that police shot the unarmed Martinez as he tried to get up and flee.

Anger in the community was expected to fade with time, but tension remains.

There are signs of improvement, however, such as the meeting several weeks ago between Amanda Martinez and Cook.

“It was a little tense. But she is a fine woman, and I think it went all right,” Cook said.

The meeting, Martinez said, “was OK, although nothing was solved. I really don’t have anything bad against the chief, I really don’t. But some of his officers . . . well, that’s another matter.”

Martinez said she and her family continue to receive letters and notes threatening their lives and usually referring to them as “beaners.” She has given copies of those letters to police.

At least three times since the shooting, a male caller has threatened the family, she said. The most recent call came Dec. 11.

“It was a man’s voice again. He said my family’s lives are in danger and that I’ve lost one and then I’ll lose another. He threatens me and he said he knows where my kids are at and mentions where they are. This one scared me, and I told my attorney and he suggested we change our telephone number, which we did.

“But because he knew where my children were, it really bothered my husband and I.”

A police spokesman said the department has been trying “very hard” to improve police-community relations, but sometimes small setbacks are inevitable.

One recent incident in the Sigler Park area involved a police search of a home where residents were suspected of selling drugs. A woman who was arrested later told the Martinez family that police questioned her about Frank Martinez, the Martinez family and the family’s lawsuit.

Sgt. Andrew Hall said he did not know whether the Martinez incident came up during questioning of the woman. But, he said, “I hope that they don’t let individual incidents set us back every time.” Cook, who was hired only 1 week before Martinez was shot, “has attempted to be as responsive to the community as he can,” Hall said.

“As an example, right now we’ve got three immediate openings and we are willing to sponsor qualified applicants through the police academy and we’re particularly interested in finding qualified Hispanics.”

There have been other efforts to defuse the tension by a federal mediator and by the Orange County Human Relations Commission and religious leaders, who together helped organize the Sigler Park festival.

“For us, the festival was a symbol and represented a small first step for the need for positive reinforcement,” said Mary Ann Gaido, the commission’s human relations specialist.

Gaido said one police lieutenant told her of a poignant moment at the festival when his officers helped set up the Manos Unidos booth.

“Here we had the police working side by side with people wearing T-shirts that had ‘Remember Frankie Martinez’ slogans on them,” Gaido said.