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| Raw emotions surface at harassment forum |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Saturday, 15 September 2007 | |
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“This meeting was very emotional,” Sam Cuellar said as the evening grew late. “It was probably very frustrating to a lot of us. It was frustrating to me. We’ve got to get involved and let law enforcement know what’s going on. Law enforcement needs the trust and respect of the community, or you’re not going anywhere.” A forum addressing police harassment prompted some tense moments Thursday at Patterson’s Teen Center. People broke down in tears, the police chief countered claims of a racist police department and residents relayed stories of being intimidated by Patterson deputies. The meeting was in response to accusations that Patterson deputies had harassed several teens.  Pi Photo File Almost 50 people sat in the teen center under its high ceilings and rotating fans. Police Chief Tyrone Spencer was at a table in front of the room along with Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson, Mayor Becky Campo and Councilman Sam Cuellar. Representatives for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People stood to the side. Matters became most tense when people brought up the issue of race. A woman said she had witnessed teens in her neighborhood being unfairly detained by deputies. On a different date, she said, she received poor service when she reported her car as stolen. “Is it because we’re Hispanic?” she asked. Several people in the audience interrupted and dismissed her claims as ridiculous. “Let her speak,” NAACP spokesman John Mataka countered. The woman regained the floor and continued to ask if police treat people differently based on race. The usually mild-mannered Spencer took exception with the implication that there are racist deputies in his department. “We have Spanish officers in our department,” Spencer said with a raised voice. “Those Spanish officers would not allow it.” Mataka implied that thinking there is no racism in the police department is naïve. “You can act like you’re in your little Cinderella world all you want,” he said, “but there are racist police. Let’s quit acting like there isn’t a problem. It does exist.” Several Latino teens talked about being targeted by Patterson deputies. They relayed stories of regularly being pulled over, even though they’ve never been caught doing anything illegal. David De La Rosa said he expects to be questioned by police as part of the regular routine. “I don’t worry too much about it,” he said. Still, an incident in July drove him to file a complaint with the police department and speak before the City Council. He talked about being pulled over in the parking lot of Save Mart on Sperry Avenue and having the deputy immediately call him an “f---ing punk. “He dropped the f-bomb at least six times,” De La Rosa said. The deputy never cited De La Rosa for any violations, though the deputy threatened that he could pull De La Rosa over whenever he felt like it for having a modified exhaust system, De La Rosa said, adding that the exhaust was stock. In the car with him that day was Brieanna Cuellar, Councilman Cuellar’s granddaughter. She talked about the difficulty of trying to file a complaint with the police department following the incident. Though the teens could not get the deputy’s name, they managed to get his license plate number. Cuellar said clerks told them when they took the license number to the police station that they would not be able to identify the deputy based on that information and that the teens would have to come back later when a sergeant was available. Along with the difficulties of filing a report, Cuellar talked about being regularly stopped by police. “I was pulled over seven times in one week,” she said, as her eyes watered. “I’m not doing anything. There’s no reason I should be followed.” Leo Reynoso talked about being in front of a friend’s house when a deputy contacted them and searched him and his friends. At one point, the deputy told him he was on the wrong side of town because he was wearing his red Patterson High School shorts. Red is associated with the Norteños gang. “I’m a big part of this community,” Reynoso said. “To be labeled as a Norteño doesn’t make me feel good at all.” He, too, had tears in his eyes as he talked. “We don’t want to be labeled,” he said. Though people spoke about a few deputies who had harassed them, they also said they felt there were many good deputies. City officials tried to find ways to address harassment issues more effectively. Sheriff Christianson and City Manager Cleve Morris assured the crowd that they would listen to anyone who called them with complaints against the department, especially if Patterson Police Services had been unresponsive. Spencer told the audience his department had investigated all the people’s claims, but the results were not available. Others in the audience supported the police and talked about gangs ruining the community. One man said his family is considering moving out of town, and another woman said gang members follow her home when she picks her children up from school. No plans for additional forums were discussed. “This meeting was very emotional,” Sam Cuellar said as the evening grew late. “It was probably very frustrating to a lot of us. It was frustrating to me. We’ve got to get involved and let law enforcement know what’s going on. Law enforcement needs the trust and respect of the community, or you’re not going anywhere.” To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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