Thread: AZ: Hispanics Protest Rapist's Description

Hispanics Protest Rapist's Description
November 9th, 2007 @ 5:39am

by Kevin Tripp and Sandra Haros/KTAR

Chandler police said Friday they never received complaints from a Spanish-language radio station which claims the police description of the ``Chandler Rapist" as a Hispanic amounts to racial profiling.

``I have not received anything," said Sgt. Rick Griner, chief public information officer for Chandler Police. ``I have not received phone calls from anybody. I have not received any directives from my chain of command or city management at this time. I have only heard bits and pieces about it."

Griner said the first time he heard about a letter from an official of 1190 AM was in reports on FM News/Talk 92-3, which obtained a copy of the letter late Thursday.

The letter took issue with the description of a man, believed responsible for five attacks on teen-aged girls since June 2006 and possibly a sixth on Thursday. He is described as Hispanic, 28 to 40, 5-feet-6, muscular, with a mustache and black hair.

Radio station 1190AM refused to use the word ``Hispanic" when it broadcast the description.

``We need to be fair when we describe the person and saying this person is Hispanic, is, I think, profiling," said Mayra Nieves, vice president of programming for New Radio Venture, which owns 1190AM.

She said the man may look Hispanic, but may not be.

``It's feeding more into the anti-Hispanic sentiment that everybody's saying is not there, but is seen everywhere," Nieves said ``For me, saying he's Hispanic because the victims are saying he's Hispanic, is actually doing racial profiling."

She said police should provide a more accurate description, using the man's skin color.

``By the fact that someone looks dark doesn't mean that he's Hispanic," she said. ``Even if he has an accent, as some people have said, it could be an Arab, it could be someone from mestizo descent. We don't know. We don't know if he's Hispanic."

Nieves said Hispanics living in the Valley want the rapist caught.

``They're afraid like we alls hould be afraid if there is someone there harming the community, we definitely would like police to find this person," she said.

But, she said, 1190 AM listeners, are ``confused and enraged because we are saying this person is Hispanic and immediately profiling this guy. And we don't know, we don't know if he is Hispanic or not. That is something people are very disgusted about."

Nieves said the station is airing a description of the suspect, without using the word ``Hispanic."

Complete text of letter written by Mayra Nieves to Chandler Police:

Dear Public Information Officers,

I would like to call your attention to a misleading detail in the description of the suspect that you are providing regarding the case of the Chandler rapist.

You describe him as a "Hispanic male, 28-40 years old, short and stocky with muscular build, dark hair, hazel or brown eyes. Base on your description the person skin color is not mentioned. It doesn't tell me if the suspect is white, black or mestizo. The fact that the suspect may also speak English and Spanish fluently, by the accounts of witnesses, doesn't make this person necessarily a Hispanic. There are people from other ethnic groups that also speak fluent Spanish.

By calling this suspect a "Hispanic male" we are stereotyping the suspect and hurting the search by limiting what people should be looking for. There are many other ethnic groups that could also fit the description that we see in the drawing. By your sketch, this suspect could also be a Phillipino, Arab, African American, French, Italian, Morocan, etc…

I hope you can make the correction. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Mayra Nieves
VP Programming - New Radio Venture
"Colorado's and Phoenix only Spanish News/Talk Radio"
La Buena Onda 1150 - Denver
La Buena Onda 1190 - Phoenix - (602) 433 1190


http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=642294

Oh, good Heavens!!

Well, if he looks hispanic and he is described as hispanic, then what's the problem?

Actually, this is something that has not been done.

We used to travel for work and I spent a lot of time watching local news whereever we were staying. If there was a description of a rapist - it might be --

white male - mid 30's - 6'1" - blond hair - blue eyes
or
black male - mid 30's - 6'1" - black hair - brown eyes
or
dark male - mid 30's - 5'7" - black hair - brown/black eyes

Never, ever, did I hear hispanic as a description.

``We need to be fair when we describe the person and saying this person is Hispanic, is, I think, profiling," said Mayra Nieves, vice president of programming for New Radio Venture, which owns 1190AM

Oh for the love of Pete....have they cracked...it their wiring fried??????what an idiot

Maybe if she gets raped, she will be able to verify if he is Hispanic or not. This is ethnic and cultural sensitivity gone completely MAD. I know of no other racial group that has ever complained about this sort of thing. People understand what Hispanic means and is normal in giving a description. People have heard it a thousand times. Of course "Hispanic" technically could be of any color, but that is not what is perceived by people.

Oblivious to her, she is doing more damage to the Hispanic community by being so ethno-centric than the description. People resent this self-centered importance.

More stupid PC run amok!

Well, I can see where she has a point EXCEPT that race classifications have been accepted by everyone, INCLUDING hispanics!

I'm talking about those papers we all fill out asking what race you consider yourself to be.

Check one that applies:

White
African American
Hispanic (non-white)
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Asian
etc. etc. etc

I don't see these forms asking if you're French, Italian, Filipino or other.

So when a hispanic parent fills out a form at school for her kids, or for medicaid, she doesn't mind checking the box for either hispanic category?
Of course not! Not if you're going to get some entitlement out of it, no?

It's ok to be proud of latino/hispanic pride, but not ok if it's used against you?

I propose they should change the man's description to hispanic or non-white hispanic or just use the color of his skin. It all boils down to the same thing!

She doesn't have a point, I don't think.

This is garbage - and should not be tolerated.

I agree with you.

I'm pointing out the fact that no one has a problem with profiling their own race if they get something out of it, but when it's used to profile criminals, they have a problem?

The whole point with profiling criminals is to give as detailed a description as possible so the scumbag gets caught. NO ONE should have a problem with that.

When the Hispanic news talk about Hispanic Democrats, or Hispanic Legislators when they are all supposed to be Americans, that isn't racial profiling. I guess they are the only ones that can decide when the word Hispanic is used.

``We need to be fair when we describe the person and saying this person is Hispanic, is, I think, profiling," said Mayra Nieves, vice president of programming for New Radio Venture, which owns 1190AM.
She said the man may look Hispanic, but may not be.

WHAT IN THE HELL KIND OF BS IS THAT! MAYRA NIEVES HAS GOT TO BE A TOTAL IDIOT!