NAACP President Achieved LAPD Reforms

For decades, the face of the NAACP in the Valley was that of longtime Pacoima resident Jose De Sosa.

From 1978 to 1994, De Sosa served as president of the San Fernando Valley branch of the NAACP. As president, De Sosa led campaigns that resulted in fundamental changes in Los Angeles Police Department practices.

Born in Panama, De Sosa lived in New York and later served in the U.S. Air Force. In 1964, after retiring from the military, De Sosa settled in Pacoima, where he and his wife, Juanita, raised three children.

De Sosa’s involvement in the NAACP began in the early 1960s; by the 1970s he had risen to leadership positions within the organization. His wife also is a longtime member.

In 1982, De Sosa was a key figure in the debate over the use of chokeholds by the LAPD. De Sosa and the NAACP organized a campaign to ban their use after a Valley man died while officers attempted to place him in custody using the hold.

“We were able to get the Police Commission to place a moratorium on the use of the chokehold,” De Sosa said recently. “That moratorium today is still in place.”

After a motorized battering ram was used to enter a Pacoima house where drug activity was allegedly taking place, a claim that proved to be false, the NAACP led a successful protest against LAPD use of the device.

“I think they have found that it was not in the best interest of the city of Los Angeles to begin utilizing that,” De Sosa said of the motorized battering ram.

De Sosa has also held statewide positions in the NAACP. In 1988 he was elected state president for the NAACP in California, a position that involves overseeing more than 88 adult branches and 30 youth and college chapters.

De Sosa, 61, continues to work as an equipment engineer with Southwestern Bell and remains active in civic issues. Last year he was appointed by Councilman Richard Alarcon to a commission created to study charter reform.

De Sosa is also a member of the board of directors of the San Fernando Valley Boys & Girls Club and has served on the board of directors of San Fernando Neighborhood Legal Services since 1967.