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You might not know the name Jose Campos Torres, but in 1977, his death at the hands of Houston police officers changed Houston forever. 
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On 5/5/1977, Torres, a 23-yr-old Vietnam vet, was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. Instead of taking him to jail, HPD officers took him to a secluded spot near Buffalo Bayou where they beat him. His body was found floating in the bayou's murky waters 3 days later. (2/7)
Violent encounters with HPD officers weren't uncommon in the city’s Latino neighborhoods, but Torres’ death sent the community over the edge. When the officers involved were put on trial, an all-white jury found them guilty of a misdemeanor. A judge fined them just $1. (3/7)
At a second trial in federal court, two of the officers, Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando, were sentenced to one year in prison. Latino activists called it a “slap in the face.” On the first anniversary of Torres’ death, tensions bubbled over into a riot. (4/7)
HPD needed to act. Murders were on the rise & unsolved crimes were piling up in Latino neighborhoods. Officer Jim Montero had an idea: he could recruit a team of Latino officers to serve as translators, helping to solve cases and build trust in the barrios they grew up in. (5/7)
This team became the "Chicano Squad," the country's first Latino homicide unit. Over their 31-year run, the squad gained national recognition for their clearance rate, solving 91% of their cases in '97. But in 2010, they were disbanded as HPD became more diverse. (6/7)
The life and death of Torres, and the subsequent creation of the Chicano Squad is now the subject of a @voxmedia podcast hosted by @cristela9 and produced by @EvaRuth. Learn more about this piece of Latino history in my latest (7/7) https://bit.ly/3tZrg54
