The Indianapolis Star reported yesterday on the sentencing of Scott Fross, Westfield police officer, for shaking down Latino drivers in 2007. Kudos to the Star for this report. Check it out at the following address:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20081218/LOCAL0103/812180323/1114
Readers are encouraged to note the contrasting perspectives of the city representatives and those of the Hispanic spokespeople.
On the one hand, Mayor Andy Cook and Chief Kevin Jowitt seem oblivious to this widespread problem (although Jowitt does express a bit of skepticism). Clearly they're not in tune with the people who are victims of this problem in their own community!
On the other hand, Westfield Middle School Principle Ed Mendoza and Margie Chavez of ALMA (the Association of Mexican Leaders in Action) were gracious yet discretely guarded in their assessments. Why? They no doubt interact with Hispanics regularly and have their confidence. Thus they know that these are not just isolated incidents.
Nor is it a coincidence that my previous blog post is about these very kinds of abuses (see below)!
I do agree with Chavez when she said, "We're 20 years behind everyone else." Although here too she was too gracious. It's more like fifty years!
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