WELCOME TO NLPOA SANTA CLARA COUNTY CHAPTER

Welcome to the NLPOA Santa Clara County Founding Chapter Website. We incorporated in 1974 as the Latino Peace Officers Association and became the first Chapter; the founding members were actually Bay Area Officers. Their common bond set the core values that attracted other chapters in the State of California and expansion later to other states.

National status was recognized as incorporated into the NLPOA Logo. Our history didn’t start with the Association’s founding members. Our traditions and culture have its roots in the very roads we now traverse on a day to day basis; the De Anza Trail, with its origins in the interior of Mexico and El Camino Real. It goes back further and has persisted and endured history’s challenges for Latinos of Mexican descent in this region. Our logo, of unknown Mayan origins, connects us to a deeper past, while our badges bond us together as brothers and sisters in the Law Enforcement Community.

We are comprised of current and former members of the California Highway Patrol, San Jose Police Department, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Clara County Department of Correction, and Santa Clara County Probation Department. But our membership goes beyond that, reflecting the diversity of individual associate members from the community at large. With local chapters growing in cities and counties throughout the United States, this Founding Chapter shares the pride of a growing National Association.

The single most issues that propelled our Association and attracted membership were equal opportunities in employment and advancement. Individual members took on the challenges of Civil Rights Court cases stemming from discriminatory employment practices in City, County and State hiring procedures. Locally the San Jose Police Department (1971-1977) and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department (1971-1974) were faced with State and Federal lawsuits to address the discriminatory employment practices faced by Latino applicants and recruits. Latinos wanted nothing more than an equal opportunity to become Law Enforcement Officers. The California Highway Patrol also made changes in eliminating the height requirement as a result of these efforts. Many city Police Departments instituted bi-lingual pay to officers. The number of Latinos entering and successfully completing probation has since grown 400-600 percent as of this writing.

Our Chapter was an early pioneer in Police Community Relations by the very nature of our cultural ties to the community. Senior citizen interaction, youth intervention in the schools, support for sport teams in the community helped spread our logo, purpose, and reputation. It was our scholarship achievements that have propelled us as a community resource and continues to this day.

I now see a bigger challenge before us. The uncertainty of the C-19 virus and the impact on our communities are quite evident. To those of you still on the front line I salute you and your efforts to keep our communities safe. We will shadow you through our collective Deputy Sheriffs, Police Officers, Probation Officers and Civilian Associate members. We continue to exist In Service to the Community.

Joe A Lopez, President
National Latino Peace Officers Association
Santa Clara County Founding Chapter