THE ROOTS OF HOA
In 1979, if you asked how many Hispanic officers were in the Hartford Police Department, you could have answered the question easily with one hand (5). With a 400-plus-member police force, Hispanic officers made up .01% of the total.
By the spring of 1980, when six new Hispanic officers were added to the department, it brought the grand total to 11, which was an extremely low number at the time. The additional installment of Hispanic officers was clearly not representative of the growing Hispanic population in The City of Hartford, growing in that year to 25 to 30 per cent of the population.
Besides the number of Hispanic officers on the job being so low, other concerns began to surface. A need to organize our concerns, issues, officers and supporters arose.
The first attempt at forming an organization initially took place sometime during the mid 70’s, when a small group of officers (most of whom had retired or left the job prior to 1979) got together to try to form an organization that would deal with some of these troubling issues first-hand. The idea however was grounded before it had a chance to make any formidable impact because of the presence of strong opposition and lack of members.
The idea of a formal organization remained dormant for many years until the 1980’s. It was then that a new flock of officers energized the idea with a new vision and an undying determination to bring about change. These officers decided to become united and form the “Hispanic Officers Association”. It all began in the Spring of 1983, when the total number of Hispanic police officers had more than doubled to 25 from the original number of 11, in 1980. The Hispanic officers in the department believed that they now had the numbers to make a real difference.
By May of 1983 “The Hispanic Officers Association” was formed. By April of 1984, HOA was officially chartered and recognized as an organization within The City of Hartford’s, Police Department. It was during that year (1983) that the late, HOA elected its founding Executive Board members.
On the ForeFront of Change
With an executive board in place and the assistance of New York City’s, Hispanic Society of Police Officers” official bylaws were created to fit the mission of HOA.
By 1984, HOA became a well known and respected organization that was highly praised by the leaders of the Hispanic community. The number of Hispanic officers steadily began to increase over the years, reaching a high of 40 by 1984.
By 1988, the Hispanic officers on the job had their first Hispanic Sergeant in the history of the Hartford Police Department, when they promoted Detective Joseph Marrero. A further accomplishment came in February 2, 2007 that the department promoted the first female, Hispanic, Detective Glendaly Macci, to the rank of sergeant.
The 1990’s brought struggle but marked success in the fields of professional advancement, recruitment, prestige and recognition to Hispanic Officers within the police department.