Hispanics in the crosshairs

By Brian Livingston, community@laurelleadercall.com

December 11, 2006 09:39 am

— Last week, Laurel Police Department patrolmen came upon a lone Hispanic man who said he’d been confronted by several black men, beaten and robbed of his money. The victim recovered from his injuries, but the case was just the latest example of crimes targeting Hispanics in Laurel.
According to authorities at the LPD, there have been approximately 50 cases since June involving Hispanics victimized by black assailants. And those are just the ones the LPD knows about.
“These people come from a country where there is corruption everywhere, especially when it comes to police and the court system,” said LPD Detective Michael Reaves. “So when they come to our country, after dodging border patrol officers and agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), they are leery of anyone who carries a gun and a badge. I don’t even want to think about how many more robberies and assaults have occurred but have not been reported for fear of being deported.”
One disturbing aspect of these crimes is that the vast majority of the suspects, especially in the 50 cases cited earlier, have all been black men between the ages of 16 and 22,with the youngest being 13.
“These black men run in packs of half a dozen people and prey on a lone person or maybe two people caught out on the street,” said Reaves. “Some of the victims are elderly, while others are very young. And the frequency in which these encounters end in a violent act is going up.”
Reaves said the inability to trust anyone but other Hispanics goes back to the point that many are in the United States illegally. That is one factor used by the assault groups against their targets. Perpetrators of these crimes know the Hispanics won’t go to the police because they themselves are breaking the law. The fear of the police and being arrested and deported overshadows the need for justice.
“But we aren’t here to deport them,” Reaves said. “That’s not our job. We aren’t going to arrest them or send in their name to ICE. Even if they are living here illegally, our job is to protect them and provide them with security.”
To try and counter the upswing in instances where Hispanics are being attacked, the LPD has deployed patrols in the areas of Laurel where Spanish speaking residents live, such as on the east side of Laurel in the First Avenue/Third Avenue sections. The hope is that officers close to these areas will be able to respond quicker to incidents, thereby catching the perpetrators as they flee the scene.
In addition to added patrols, the LPD routinely sends officers to training classes to learn Spanish in order to better communicate with the victims. Some officers, such as Reaves, speak Spanish, but there are still many others who don’t. There is also a movement within the department to get more officers out of their cars to talk face to face with Spanish speaking residents in hopes of creating that sense of trust.
Reaves also said there are measures Hispanics can take to lessen the chance they will become a victim.
“Travel in groups,” he said. “There is security in numbers. Secondly, have a cell phone to contact emergency personnel and police. And third, be aware of your surroundings and the people in your area. All of these things can prevent anyone from becoming a victim.”