Houston’s Underdogs get their Win

The Chicano Squad is the first All-Latin homicide unit in America. This heroic true story took place in the late 70s. So, why is it being told now? Sergio Selvera, the son of Jose Selvera, one of the original detectives assigned to the Chicano Squad, knew his father was a hero, and decided to tell not only Houston, but the world, the story of Jose Selvera, Jim Montero, Cecil Mosqueda, Urvin “U.P.” Hernandez, Bobby Gatewood, Jose Deleon, and Raymond Gonzales.

In the 70s the Houston crime rate was at an all time high. The Latino community made up out of four victims of homicide. During this time, the HPD and its detectives were only white men, and they were not able to solve any cases that dealt with victims, witnesses, or suspects that primarily spoke Spanish. This led to many unsolved and open cases of murder of Latinos in Houston. Due to this, the Latino community did not trust the police department and crime ran wild within Latino neighborhoods.

Jim Montero started as a robbery detective and was asked to translate a case in the homicide department. He ended up taking on that case and many other homicide cases, along with his own since he was the only one that could communicate with the witnesses. As he was flooded with case work, he went to his captain, Bobby Adams, with the idea for the Chicano Squad. To recruit bilingual policemen to work as a translator for homicide detectives. They got clearance from the chief of police to go through with Jim’s idea. Jim chose Jose Selvera, Cecil Mosqueda, Urvin “U.P.” Hernandez, Bobby Gatewood, and Jose Deleon.

These men were hardworking bilingual police officers who had no detective training. They were given 90 days to solves hundreds of open cases that involved Latin American murders. Along with these high stakes, came people who wanted to see them fail. They were Latin men in a predominantly white workplace, they experienced racism and discrimination from their colleges. Against all odds, when the 90 days were up, they had solved 40 cases, that number of closed cases in such little time was unheard of. Their unit was able to continue to work for another two decades after that. This year marks 45 years since the Chicano Squad was created.

Sergio Selvera produced a two part docuseries that premiered on A & E on Labor Day. There was a showing of the first episode held in Houston. Jose Selvera, Jim Montero, Cecil Mosqueda, Urvin “U.P.” Hernandez, and Raymond Gonzales of the Chicano Squad attended. After the episode ended, there was a short Q & A with the retired members, and each of them was asked if they ever thought they would get recognition and admiration for the work they have done. Each of their responses were heartwarming. The response that stuck out most was Raymond Gonzalez’s. The moment Raymond started to answer, he got emotional, as he stated “I ignored my family for a long time.” He continued by talking about how grateful he is that his family gets to see the work he was doing, and they continue to support him even though how much time work took away from him and his time with family. As the Q & A was coming to an end, before the members left the stage, they were presented with plaques with their names engraved on them thanking them for their hard work. They also received gold badges recognizing their work as detectives. This is a beautiful story about underdogs, community, and the heart of Houston.