There’s a nationwide push to recruit more minorities for careers in law enforcement and a community in northwest Iowa is emphasizing diversity on its police force. Bayron Ordonez was born in Honduras and, is one of four new officers taking the oath to serve and protect Sioux City.
“Unfortunately, in the society that we live in today, some people don’t trust police officers,” Ordonez says. “If they see somebody that is more of what they’re used to, it’s easier for people to open up and trust us.” Sioux City Police Chief Rex Mueller agrees. “We need to look like the community we serve and we need to recruit people that look like the community that we serve, and that’s what we constantly strive to do,” Chief Mueller says. “We want good people, but we also want people that will be able to relate to the community and them and the community to them.”
Of four new officers recently sworn into duty in Sioux City, two come from the Hispanic community, including Ordonez. “Sioux City is very diverse,” Ordonez says. “Some of my mentors are of Hispanic origin, and then I think we have some of the Asian community, the African American community, throughout the force.” Of the 127 officers on the city’s police force, more than a quarter are minorities, including women. There are no Native Americans on the force.
About 20% of Sioux City’s population is Hispanic. Now, about 8% of the city’s police officers are Hispanic.
(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio)