HOUSTON – In the late 70s and 80s, crime in Houston was at an all-time high. The tension between the public and the police reached a boiling point, and the death of Jose “Joe” Campos Torres became a tipping point in communities throughout the city, especially in Houston’s Latino community.
Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican-American and Vietnam War veteran, was in his fatigues inside a local bar on Cinco de Mayo in 1977. He got into a fight with another guy at the bar and police arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Then six Houston Police officers took Torres to a place called “The Hole” and beat him severely before they hauled him to jail. The jail wouldn’t take Torres because his injuries were so bad. Police were supposed to take Torres to Ben Taub Hospital. He never got there and days later his body was found floating in Buffalo Bayou, his handcuffs still on.
An all-white jury convicted two of the officers for negligent homicide, which was a misdemeanor. Their sentence was one year of probation and a one-dollar fine. No charges were ever brought against the other officers.
Torres' death and the trial’s outcome sparked protests and a chain of events that ultimately led to the infamous Moody Park riots one year later during a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Houston’s Latino community. It was Houston’s worst riot in modern history.
Rookie Houston Police Officer U.P Hernandez was one of the first officers on the scene, “We drove up, we got bombarded by bottles and beers. I told my partner that we should get out of the car because the rioters were going to flip the car while we were in it,” said Hernandez. Two of his fellow police officers were run over. Two of our KPRC 2 reporters were beaten and stabbed, “I couldn’t figure out why are these people tearing up their own little town and destroying their bakeries, destroying their restaurants and stores. It was crazy,” recalled Hernandez.
The Moody Riots proved Houston’s Hispanic community had a major trust problem when it came to police. That’s when the Houston Police Department formed a special task force -- The Chicano Squad. It was the city’s first all-Latin homicide unit. U.P Hernandez was one of the five bilingual police officers suddenly promoted to this special team. The squad was challenged to solve forty Houston homicide cases in just three months. Hernandez believes the Chicano Squad was formed when the Hispanic Community needed it most.
“That was the biggest problem, there was a trust problem”
U.P. Hernandez
The Spanish-speaking community and witnesses to crime did not want to speak to detectives who didn’t speak their language. But when the Chicano Squad began to show up in their neighborhoods and knock on their doors, “To see the look on their faces that we could speak their language was what they wanted. That was the biggest problem, there was a trust problem,” said Hernandez.
Word spread that they were solving a lot of murder cases. A phone line was created to send calls directly to the Chicano Squad, “We get phone calls about paying light bills and other problems they had. We told them how to call the electricity company. We helped them, and that created trust between us and them,” said Chicano Squad member Raymond Gonzales.
The Chicano Squad ended up solving all the homicide cases in just ninety days. The group became one of the most highly decorated law enforcement units in the history of Houston.
In 2010 the Chicano Squad was disbanded as the Houston Police Department’s workforce became more diverse and included more Spanish-speaking officers.
