BOISE, Idaho — Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor the incredible contributions made by our Hispanic and Latin American community. Part of that is forging good relationships.
The Boise Police Department is making an effort to build that Hispanic community relationship with the help of Officer Ed Moreno.
"My official duty as an officer is that I am a neighborhood contact officer and I'm the Liaison for the Hispanic community,” said Officer Ed Moreno, Hispanic Community Liaison.
Officer Ed Moreno started his career in law enforcement in 1997 at the Idaho Department of Corrections as a Probation and Parole Officer.
About five years later he joined the Boise Police Department where he says he noticed a need among the Hispanic community.
"I noticed there was a lack of information on the part of all departments, not just us, but all departments in the community. As far as information to that Latina community, as far as safety matters," said Moreno.
To assist with the void, he partnered with local radio stations, since radio continues to be one of the most popular forms of media among the Hispanic community. Moreno goes on the radio to answer questions from the Hispanic Community.
“It was supposed to be 15 minutes of receiving questions from the community. Well, the response was so overwhelming that I was there for almost 3 hours," said Moreno.
Moreno says his upbringing is his biggest benefit when connecting to the Hispanic Community. He grew up in California in the Central Valley where he worked in the farm fields, in a primarily Spanish-speaking household.
"It seems to break down those barriers and then they start conversing with you. And that's when they open up even more," said Moreno.
As part of his outreach, he has worked closely with the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs —giving credit to JJ Saldaña whom he worked closely with – and included him in all youth summits.
The department currently has a handful of native Spanish speakers and says it's incredibly tough to recruit. But Officer Moreno says he will continue to be an advocate for the Hispanic community as he continues to serve as the Hispanic Community Liaison, giving credit to his department for allowing him to take on the role.
