Chief meets with Latino pastors

Chief meets with Latino pastors

Minter seeks community involvement with policing

06:58 AM CDT on Monday, June 30, 2008
By Karina Ramírez / Staff Writer

Denton Police Chief Roy Minter last week reiterated his desire for more community involvement, starting what he hoped would be a dialogue with residents about concerns such as immigration and graffiti.


Roy Minter
“No matter what community we are in, in what city, there are three things that everyone is concerned with, and that is crime, quality of life and traffic,” Minter told a group of 20 Latino religious leaders and other residents.

In his second community involvement meeting with the United Com­mu­nity Action Network, Minter expressed his department’s commitment to addressing the concerns of the Latino community and ensuring they can work together.

“Building a partnership with members of our communities is important because it keeps you safe,” Minter said.

Rafael Natividad, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista, where the meeting was held, translated as Minter told the crowd they should not be afraid to contact police for any reason.

He asked the group to report racial profiling and family violence, to be aware of thieves and how they prey on the elderly, and to practice safety — especially when traveling with large amounts of money, as people who don’t rely on banks sometimes do.

Minter asked the religious leaders to invite him and members of the department to their churches.

Some of the pastors said a number of Latinos are afraid that police want only to arrest them. One attendee said children have seen people getting handcuffed in front of their church, thus associating police with something negative.

In addressing immigration, at­tendees said they worried Denton could become another Farmers Branch or Irving, where city police are enforcing federal laws.

“We are a full-service organization and it is our job to protect and serve all communities,” Min­ter said in response. “It is not our job to question if they are legal or illegal.”

Also during the meeting, police Detective Rachel Fleming talked about graffiti and how to combat it.

“In 2003, it appeared everywhere in Denton,” Fleming said. Graffiti is a quality-of-life issue, she said.

Fleming said the community notices graffiti before police do, so they should report it. She said young adults are usually behind graffiti, not juveniles.

“Statistics show that if you cover graffiti three times, they do not come back because you are covering their ego,” Fleming said.

José Paiz, of Mision Templo Bethel on Heather Lane, praised Minter for reaching out to the community.

“We need more people like you, not just in Denton, but in every city in the United States,” Paiz said. “I am willing to help.”

While Natividad was translating, he shared his stories of vandalism and graffiti. In five years, he said, his church has been vandalized three times.

“You have to take action — don’t wait for your neighbor to do it,” Natividad said.

Paiz said it was the first time he had participated in a meeting addressing issues important to Latinos in Denton. He said he had worked with religious associations in Dallas and other communities.

Minter asked the group to participate in the Citizen Police Academy, a free, 13-week program for residents. “It helps you as a citizen to see what we do every day,” he said.

Classes meet one evening per week, and the next academy could start in September.

“You go out and learn about what the police department does, and we’ll let you shoot a gun,” Minter said, making the crowd laugh. He explained that participants would take a small-firearms training class.

Minter also said the city needs Latino police officers. Denton has 155 officers and more than 106,000 residents, he said.

Of those officers, 10 are His­panic and seven are fluent in Spanish, he said.

The Denton Police Department has 14 black officers, including Minter, one Asian-American officer and two who are American Indians.

He invited the group to spread the word about the next civil service exam on July 26.

“We can use your assistance in recruiting officers of all communities,” Minter said. “We are a diverse community and our organization needs to be as such.”

The evening before the meeting, the group of pastors met to discuss issues affecting the Latino community, said Jorge Urbina, president of the Denton Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“This is an extension of that. … We have to become engaged to respond to a need,” he said.

Minter said he wants Denton to embrace community-oriented policing, just like Dallas and Irving, where the program has become successful.

“Community-oriented policing does work, and it improves a community,” Minter said.

KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com .