New Wichita TV Series Aims To Show Latinos That Cops Are On Our Side

If you’ve ever hesitated to call the police because you think they would rather burn a cross / a piñata / your stash than help you, then you are in luck. Wichita, Kansas’ “Azteca America” has a new series aimed at teaching local Latinos that police authorities are friends, not foes. Check out this sizzling promo for the spicily-named Red Hot Crime Stoppers. It burns so good:

We can’t help but wonder, though, why there have to be “sides” in the first place. Why not just create a show that focuses on cops who happen to be Latino (like the officer featured in the video), without the message “You guys, cops don’t hate you!” It’s not, after all, always an “us” versus “them” scenario. Sometimes, pigs cops are Latino! Just like common thugs!

If you’re anything like us, you have found yourself watching COPS, alone on a Saturday, and noted that a lot of the officers featured on the show happen to be Hispanic (Especially when they visit Miami! REPRESENT.), and a lot of the perps are Anglo. We’re not sure whether this is the result of a conscious effort on the part of the show’s producers, but we can’t help but think that showing Latino officers working might have more of an impact than inadvertently bolstering the idea that cops are on one side of the law and frightened Latinos are on the other.

This is particularly vital since Latinos, according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, show apprehension when it comes to police officers and the legal system. Of the Latinos polled, 61% feel confidence in their local police compared to 78% of non-Latino white people. Additionally, a scant 45% of Latinos expressed confidence in being treated fairly by police and 49% said they were confident of being treated fairly in court.

The solution, other than teaching cops how not to be racist and xenophobic assholes, is to add a face to the police force or, rather, multiple faces of all different backgrounds, races, genders and ethnic groups. Dismantle the idea that cops are a featureless white mass hellbent on taking away your kids. This would not only help inspire confidence in Latinos, but also undermine another stereotype - that all Latinos are lawless bandits. Who are red hot.

New cop show reaches out to Wichita Hispanics [The Wichita Eagle]