"A Bunch of Tough Hombres": Police Brutality, Municipal Politics, and Racism in South Texas

Authors

Brent M. S. Campney, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 2018

Abstract

“Everybody knew the McAllen police were a bunch of tough hombres, especially the Boys on C shift,” reported the Dallas Morning News on March 29, 1981. “Working the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift along the border is like being at war, the cops said. You have to be tough. The Boys on C shift worked at being tough.” Many of the “Boys” wore black T-shirts with gold letters bearing “the legend, ‘C Shift Animals.’ They even had their own slogan: ‘Kick…and Ask Questions Later.’ ” Only days earlier, the public had become aware of their misdeeds, revealed in six years of booking room videos recorded by the McAllen Police Department (MPD) and subpoenaed by a civil rights attorney. On these videos Anglo and Mexican American officers alike confirmed suspicions that they had beaten, kicked, and abused prisoners—in virtually all cases, working-class Mexican Americans.

Comments

Published by The Southwest Center, University of Arizona

Recommended Citation

Campney, Brent M. S. ""A Bunch of Tough Hombres": Police Brutality, Municipal Politics, and Racism in South Texas." Journal of the Southwest, vol. 60, 2018, p. 787-825. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/jsw.2018.0016.

First Page

787

Last Page

825

Publication Title

Journal of the Southwest

DOI

10.1353/jsw.2018.0016