Group Wants New Captain to Lead Station : Law enforcement: Residents fault Michael Nagaoka for failing to hire enough Spanish-speaking deputies. But competition for such officers is fierce and gains have been made, the Sheriff’s Department says.

Capt. Michael Nagaoka, head of the Industry sheriff’s station, has been targeted by a community group seeking his ouster.

La Puente Parent Power, a new organization, claims too few Spanish-speaking deputies patrol the southeastern San Gabriel Valley, an area with a 53% Latino population.

The group blames Nagaoka for failing to hire more Spanish-speaking deputies, who now make up 19% of the 190 sworn deputies at the station.

Last month, the community group sent a letter, signed by 350 residents, to Sheriff Sherman Block, asking for a new captain. Tuesday evening 80 group members met to discuss why officials had not responded to their request. Also attending the meeting was a representative from the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.

“We met with Nagaoka in 1989 to express our concerns, but nothing has been done,” said Manuel Maldonado, a community activist and leader in the group. “He said he would recruit more Spanish-speaking personnel to the patrol units, as well as to the office. But to this day, we have not seen it.”

Nagaoka counters that he has indeed increased the number of Spanish-speaking deputies, as well as Spanish-speaking civilian office volunteers during his three years in command. Spanish-speaking deputies now number 37, up from 24, Nagaoka said. Plus, the number of Spanish-speaking civilian volunteers has grown from seven to 14.

“I’ve heard those accusations before,” Nagaoka said. “But the station has been extremely responsive.”

The captain’s claim is backed up by his boss, Chief Larry Anderson, and La Puente City Manager Robert G. Gutierrez, both of whom praised Nagaoka for his efforts to not only increase the number of Spanish-speaking deputies, but to add more Asian, African-American and female officers to the ranks.

“He’s one of the finer station commanders,” Anderson said.

Anderson added that Nagaoka’s efforts to hire more Spanish-speaking deputies for the station are limited because the captain must compete with 19 other sheriff’s stations vying for Spanish-speaking deputies from among the pool of newly hired officers.

“The competition for people with language skills and culture skills is getting really intense,” agreed Capt. Jerry Conklin, head of the Santa Clarita Valley station, which only last month boosted its ranks of Spanish-speaking deputies from three to 14.

As head of the Industry station, Nagaoka oversees a 49-square-mile area that includes Hacienda Heights, La Habra Heights, Bassett, East and West Valinda and the City of Industry.

Maldonado said many area residents are native Californians who do not speak English. The lack of Spanish-speaking deputies means that many residents must bring translators with them to conduct business at the station, he said.

During crucial, life-threatening situations, the lack of communication delays response time, Maldonado maintains. For example, in March, when 60-year-old June Guin was killed in her La Puente home by a stray bullet during a gang shootout, deputies were delayed for a half an hour because they could not understand the Latina who called to report the shooting, he alleged.

But Nagaoka said an investigation of Maldonado’s allegations showed that Guin’s husband, not knowing the bullet had pierced their home, initially called deputies to report his wife had fallen. When deputies finally got the correct information, they were at the scene in eight minutes, the captain said.

In addition, within the past two months, the Sheriff’s Department has begun using a translation service provided on all 911 emergency calls by American Telephone & Telegraph Co., Anderson said.