PROGRAM INFO
- Title:
- Civil Rights And The Texas Police
- Program #
- 1981-24
- Theme:
- Politics
- Series:
- Social Issues
- Host:
- Linda Fregoso
- Guests:
- Juan Hinojosa, Larry Trujillo, Vicente Gonzales
- Date:
- May 1, 1981
Civil Rights and the Texas Police
Linda Fregoso speaks with Juan Hinojosa, Vicente Gonzalez and Larry Trujillo about police brutality in Chicano communities. Larry Trujillo, a professor of Chicano Studies, explains that historically the Chicano community has perceived the police as both a repressive and protective force. The increasing incidences of police brutality in Chicano communities is part of a larger history in which private police sought to keep Mexicans and the working class in their place, and Trujillo explains that police crime is often an issue of both race and class.
State Representative Juan Hinojosa then discusses the video of police officers beating prisoners in McAllen, Texas. He explains that for years the city ignored the issue of police brutality, but now successful suits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union have demanded officials address the problem.
Vicente Gonzalez of the San Antonio Civil Rights Litigation Center then explores the case of Hector Santos Coy, who was killed by a police officer. Gonzalez describes some of the corruption that has marked the case and argues that we need to change the police training system and their interactions with minorities. The episode concludes with other suggestions for ways to curtail police brutality, such as increasing the use of stun weapons and addressing unemployment and the lack of educational opportunities.
KEYWORDS
Alma DiazAlternative Solutions to Crime
American Civil Liberties Union
Border
Border Policing
Border Violence
Brownsville
Castroville
Chicano Perceptions of the Police
Civil Rights Commission
Civil Rights Litigation Center in San Antonio
Class
Dallas
Deadly Weapons
Discrimination
Dropout Rates
Education
Hector Santos Coy
Houston
J. Edgar Hoover
James Deanda
Jose Campos Torres
Juan Hinojosa
King Ranch
McAllen, Texas
Mexican American Police Officers
Minorities
Parks and Recreation
Police Brutality
Police Crime
Police impunity
Police Training
Policing the Border
Private Police
Ricardo Morales
San Antonio
Santos Rodriguez
School of Criminology
Sheriff
Texas Rangers
Unemployment
University of California-Berkeley
Urban Crisis
Working Class