Houston’s Chicano Squad finally gets gold badges

HOUSTON – After what had already been an emotional night for members of the Houston Police Department’s famed Chicano Squad, the first Mexican American chief in HPD history took the stage at the Hobby Center on Thursday.

HPD Chief Noe Diaz surprised the United States’ first All-Latino homicide unit after a special premiere of A&E’s The Chicano Squad, a two-night documentary event that will premiere on Sept. 2-3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

With their families and many of Houston’s most prominent Latino leaders in attendance, former officers Jose Selvera Jr., Cecil Mosqueda, Raymond Gonzales, James “Jim” Montero and U.P. Hernandez were moved to tears after watching the premiere.

They received a standing ovation from the packed auditorium. Diaz noted that he was in his position in part because of the barriers the Chicano Squad began breaking in 1979. Then the chief presented the retired officers with the gold detective badges that all but one of them had been denied during their careers on the force.

‘Long overdue’

“It was something that was long overdue,” Diaz said. “These people built bridges in the Spanish-speaking community at a time when it wasn’t popular. The police force didn’t encourage it. 

“You heard from their own mouths that they were discouraged. So for me it was absolutely important that they get recognized for the work that they did. They weren’t getting recognized at that time. … What really sold it for me was that other detectives were taking credit for their work. For me it’s not justice if we’re not being just.”

The symbolic gesture was appreciated by the Chicano Squad and their families. The bilingual officers had been pulled from their beats in 1979 to form their homicide unit. They were first used as translators. HPD gave them a 90-day window to prove themselves or be demoted back to their beats.

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They were detectives in every sense. Their white police union “brothers” complained, though. They were accused of getting the detective positions based on their ethnicity instead of their qualifications.

Ultimately, only Mosqueda passed the test to get his gold detective’s badge. The rest kept their silver badges.

“Unfortunately … I’m the only one who got promoted,” Mosqueda said. “So I got a second one. It was something that was long overdue for them, so it was good.”

It was easy to see how much the gold badges meant to the Chicano Squad.

Grateful Chicano Squad

“That gold badge means that it’s an appreciation,” said Selvera, whose son Sergio was the driving force behind the project. “It’s got a lot of meaning to me (seeing) these people here supporting law enforcement. I’ve been in law enforcement all my life, 50 years. 

“Seeing these people right here and being able to promote something positive making our police department look good, that means a lot to me.”

The members of the Chicano Squad never imagined seeing their stories on the big screen. The unit was created to clear a backlog of homicide cases in Houston’s Latino community. Five members of the Chicano Squad gathered at the Hobby Center to see the documentary. 

In a Q&A afterward with the director and the executive producers, some of the Chicano Squad members were moved to tears as they received a standing ovation from the packed auditorium. They mentioned how they had shielded their families from the gory details of their work.

Others mentioned how they had neglected their families in the quest to help solve murders in their communities.

“It’s for the young people, the minority people, especially the Hispanic community wherever they may live to inspire them that there’s a way and it can work,” Mosqueda said. “The population of the United States, we have a lot of Hispanic people throughout the U.S. in every city. I want them to learn a lot … to motivate them to become good citizens or police officers.”