One year since the Uvalde school shooting, community trust in law enforcement and public officials has not improved.
A Texas Department of Public Safety officer stands in front of crosses with the names of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting. A gunman killed 19 children and two adults on May 26, 2022.
He said that the relationship between local police and the Latinos has been historically fraught, and after an event like the Robb Elementary shooting, the trust in local police is further strained. Parents aren’t the only community members with distrust in law enforcement. Martinez’s son Zayon is currently attending school remotely because he’s not ready to return to in-person school.
“I really wanted to make sure they knew that this guy was not eligible for rehire, according to the sheriff's standards. And he asked me to sit down, and I didn't sit down, and he ended up banning me,” Martinez explained. “To me, it would mean that a chief would sit down with a community and have a conversation. 'What do they need to feel safe? How do we regain your trust?' We never sit down and ask people, 'what do they need? What are your expectations of us?' ” Thomas said.Uvalde is a small town with a heavy law enforcement presence, including the Department of Public Safety , U.S.
Seventy-seven minutes to kill an active shooter is an unusual amount of time, said Katherine Schweit, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent who created the FBI’s active shooter training. Thomas said that internally, an inadequate response by police typically impacts a police department in a few ways: 1) some officers will leave because they realize this job isn’t for them, or suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and be unable to carry out their jobs; 2) other officers will carry on their duties as usual; and 3) further training needs to occur incessantly until the police are comfortable in their abilities to fulfill their role as protectors of the community.
Martinez said that he’s served as a voice for the community, and other parents have asked him to bring their concerns to the table. Martinez said that Police Chief Danny Rodriguez told him that the Uvalde law enforcement “have everything they need now” to react to another crisis, referring to shields, weapons, and equipment.
“I will say that it does take a serious amount of guts to come into this community after what happened and try to change things. So I applaud them for that. But I hope he does change things. I hope he doesn't fall into the same old good old boy system that has been controlling Uvalde forever.”
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