OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION OF BOY'S DEATH IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD
RECONCILIATION, REBUILDING TRUST

The death of 11-year-old Alberto Sepulveda, killed by a Modesto police
officer during a federal raid of his parents' home, has devastated this
community. We hope the tragedy doesn't divide this community, as well.

The tangle of emotions area residents have felt has been a natural reaction
to an unnatural death: anger and anguish, despair and disbelief. But
Alberto's death also has uncorked a bottle of distrust many Hispanic
residents apparently have for the Modesto Police Department, and, perhaps,
other local law enforcement.

That's why Modesto Police Chief Roy Wasden was wise to seek a review of the
shooting by the state attorney general's office. The attorney general's
inquiry should calm the doubts of community members, Hispanic and
otherwise, who believe that local authorities cannot conduct an objective
investigation of the Sept. 13 shooting by SWAT officer David Hawn.

Bringing an irrefutably neutral investigator into the case is a first step
down a long path of trust-building between the police and the community,
particularly the Hispanic community.

The distrust many local Hispanics have for law enforcement burst into
public at this week's Modesto City Council meeting, when furious Hispanic
residents filled the council chamber to demand answers in Alberto's death,
punishment for Hawn and an end to what they called systematic racial
discrimination by police.

Although we understand the community's passion and frustration, a temperate
look at this tragedy and its circumstances considers at least three points:

First, calling for Hawn's dismissal or punishment is premature. He is the
subject of three criminal investigations -- by the police department, the
Stanislaus County district attorney's office and now, the state attorney
general's office. In addition, the city attorney's office and Police
Department's internal affairs division are conducting noncriminal
investigations. The community should wait for the results of these
inquiries before convicting Hawn in the court of public opinion.

The same standard applies to Moises Sepulveda, Alberto's father. No one
knows whether he was involved in drug trafficking -- as the federal warrant
served in the raid alleges -- until his guilt or innocence is settled in a
court of law.

Second, we do not believe the Modesto Police Department is racist, and we
do not believe Hawn's shooting of Alberto is racially suspect. We agree
with Hispanic residents' point that calling Alberto's death "accidental" is
not enough. But we certainly do not believe the shooting was deliberate,
and again, we await the results of the five investigations of the case that
are under way.

Third, Hispanic community members -- and other racial minorities -- have
legitimate concerns that should be comprehensively studied and addressed.
If racial minorities face any kind of discrimination by local authorities,
that obviously is unacceptable and demands remedy. If misperception is the
problem, that demonstrates a need for improvement, too, particularly in
communication and relationship-building.

That said, this is not a time to dwell on accusations or deepen divisions
between any people or groups in our community. This is a time to build
bridges, not walls.

If this community is to unify and heal, police officials, Hispanic leaders
- -- and Hispanic citizens who may feel unrepresented -- should take mutual
initiative to pursue reconciliation and improve communication.

For the Police Department's part, it can do a better job reaching out to
members of the Hispanic community. It can emphasize to officers and the
public alike that it will enforce zero-tolerance policies against racial
prejudice of any type. This week, police leaders hatched plans to build new
connections with Hispanic citizens, particularly those who may feel
isolated because they speak little English and are not part of any formal
Hispanic organization.

That's a constructive step. Beyond that, if the police department is to
serve this community as well as it can, it will recruit and hire more
Hispanic and Spanish-speaking patrol officers. Modesto police records
indicate that of 244 sworn officers, 32 -- or 13 percent -- are Hispanic.
In a community in which up to 30 percent of the population is Hispanic,
those numbers are not good enough.

The Hispanic community also has a role to play in bridge-building. To
start, racial minorities should report for the official record any
perceived racial discrimination by police or other government officials.
Again according to police records, the department has received only four
complaints of racially related misconduct by officers since 1994. Racial
minorities may call that number unrealistically low, but the point is,
residents should communicate problems or perceived problems as they occur.
For that to happen, police and other local leaders must send a clear
message that such reports are welcome, and will be treated seriously.

Modesto police have done a better job communicating directly with city
residents since the introduction of community policing several years ago.
If the relationship between police and citizens is to continue its
improvement, communication lines -- in all directions and for all citizens
- -- must be opened still wider. Grievances cannot be allowed to fester.

Meanwhile, this community -- together -- mourns the loss of Alberto, who
enjoyed coin collecting, water balloon fights and sketching the characters
of "Dragon Ball Z." The axiom that a child's death defies the natural order
of life is doubly true when a child's death is caused by the very police
whose job it is to shield the public from danger.

But now is a time not for more outrage, but for compassion and patience. We
hope the community will give the investigators reasonable rope to do their
jobs thoroughly, a process that could span several months. We are
encouraged, meanwhile, that police leaders are reviewing the procedures in
raids such as the one that left Alberto dead. Most fundamentally, perhaps,
there must be a way to keep officers safe without pointing shotguns at
children.

Under all the heartache, there is promise. It's healthy that members of the
Hispanic community spoke up and publicly aired their passions and
frustrations. It also is heartening that so far, the Police Department is
treating the tragedy, and Hispanics' related concerns, with appropriate
gravity.

Nothing, obviously, can bring Alberto back to this world. But this
community's leaders and citizens can honor his memory by clutching the
opportunity to knit this community -- all of this community -- more tightly
together.